NFL considering outlawing cut blocks beginning 2016

Heard it on NFL Live on ESPN today. If that happens, how does this affect the Hawks? How much of that type of blocking does the team do within the ZBS? How does this affect Cable as an o-line coach?

Get rid of the chop block allow offensive holding, oh they do that already for certain teams.

Chop blocks are already illegal.

Are they talking about cut blocks?

Yeah, I think they mean cut block. Sweezy took out two players the past few years with those legal blocks. I know they say that the NFL run game would dry up if the cut block was outlawed but I think it should be tossed. If the cut block is outlawed, the ZBS loses a lot of impact. I know that Gibbs talks with glee about having his linemen cut a player. They have to be 100% willing to make the block. Wonder if that helped Walter Jones make up his mind to retire, though he was done anyway.

I **think** I like the power blocking scheme vs zone but I am probably confused with the entire concept anyway.

Attyla the Hawk":13ljba84 said:

Chop blocks are already illegal.

Are they talking about cut blocks?

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Yeah I meant cut blocks. My bad.

It's an essential part of the ZBS the hawks run.

The idea of banning the practice has been circulated for a while now and Cable and Carrol have been interviewed about it.
The gist of their response is they'll use it as long as it's allowed and adapt when it's illegal.

drdiags":3r8rvvjh said:

Yeah, I think they mean cut block. Sweezy took out two players the past few years with those legal blocks. I know they say that the NFL run game would dry up if the cut block was outlawed but I think it should be tossed. If the cut block is outlawed, the ZBS loses a lot of impact. I know that Gibbs talks with glee about having his linemen cut a player. They have to be 100% willing to make the block. Wonder if that helped Walter Jones make up his mind to retire, though he was done anyway.

I **think** I like the power blocking scheme vs zone but I am probably confused with the entire concept anyway.

Click to expand...

Yeah, Sweezy sent Ian Williams to I.R. on a (legal) cut block toward the beginning of the season two years ago.

It will definitely hurt ZBS running schemes (much easier to get out a guy's knees than actually get your shoulder around him) but IMO they should have outlawed it 25-30 years ago when the 9ers inteoduced it to the NFL under McKittrick.

Long time coming IMO

Bronco's have been doing it longer than anyone.

Listening to podcast today and i think they were specific about it being a cut block from behind. Not positive on that though.

Would that not just be a clip?

There is give a take with these things. I'm exaggerating for effect, but you could convert the NFL to a flag football league or 7 on 7, and doing so would dramatically lower injuries. But the NFL would never do it, because it would make the game so much less fun to watch. Ratings would plummet and football as we know it today would be dead.

On a much smaller scale, you have the kickoff change that dramatically reduced the number of kickoff returns. Did that prevent injuries? Yes, but very few. IMO, the game lost more in entertainment value than it gained from safety with that move.

In a similar way, I feel that the NFL loses more than it gains by banning the cut block. It would prevent a handful of major knee injuries a year, but it would result in offensive lines playing even worse than they already are and would further exaggerate the pass happy nature of the league. Offense would become relatively 1 dimensional. And I think that would hurt the game more than it would be worth in terms of safety trade-off.

Also, it's really hard to say how much of a safety benefit it really is. Plenty of injuries happen on power blocking plays, including those helmet to helmet collisions between two linemen that put them at such high risk for CTE after-effects. And if the run game withered away, it would mean more obvious passing situations and more QB hits.

Who knows what Goodell will do though. I don't trust his judgement at all.

Attyla the Hawk":2ox3dlb9 said:

Chop blocks are already illegal.

Are they talking about cut blocks?

Click to expand...

They are not all illegal. The NFL is considering getting rid of all chop blocks

I think in between the tackles and when the defender is not already engaged is legal.

If cut blocks get outlawed then there will be a lot of Seahawks on the unemployment line - Cable, and most of the OL will be gone. They are on their arses most of the time trying to cut block. The day Cable leaves will be the day the OL will actually improve.

hawkfan68":2ov64a6s said:

If cut blocks get outlawed then there will be a lot of Seahawks on the unemployment line - Cable, and most of the OL will be gone. They are on their arses most of the time trying to cut block. The day Cable leaves will be the day the OL will actually improve.

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It will be very interesting to see how well he teaches run blocking if his guys can't cut. Certainly his efforts at getting his guys to be good at pass pro can be called into question.

hawkfan68":r2nnqwf2 said:

If cut blocks get outlawed then there will be a lot of Seahawks on the unemployment line - Cable, and most of the OL will be gone. They are on their arses most of the time trying to cut block. The day Cable leaves will be the day the OL will actually improve.

Click to expand...

Cut blocks are irrelevant in this post. A cut block consists of taking at least one step, then blocking the opponent below the waist. This is legal and not what the NFL is discussing. The league is talking about getting rid of ALL CHOP BLOCKING. Some chop blocking is already against the rules while other types are not. Please refer to my link above

It is integral to the ZBS. The backside tackle, and guard's job on a lot of plays is to get the D-Lineman across from them on the ground.

Largent80":37dvqq1v said:

Bronco's have been doing it longer than anyone.

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The Broncos started doing it when they brought in Shanny as the HC in '95.

He brought it with him from his time in S.F. as OC, where he picked it up from McKittrick.

Agreed that it's probably most associated with the Shanny and Gibbs Broncos, but Bob McKittrick with the 9ers gets the ignominious distinction of the innovation.

So, as pointed out a few times by Mr. Freak, the NFL is talking about eliminating the last legal version of the chop block. Seems Geoff Schwartz and others feel this will have a big impact on the run game as mentioned by many here.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/geoffschwartz/status/704298874542952448[/tweet]

Indeed, many running games in the NFL feature the chop block as a staple of the blocking scheme. Eliminating it would certainly force many teams to alter their approaches to run blocking. Defensive players have long argued the practice is dangerous and leads to knee injuries, however, making the chop block a major player safety concern, especially for defensive linemen and linebackers.

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[tweet]https://twitter.com/geoffschwartz/status/704299204332691456[/tweet]