One of the biggest rules changes in the NFL this year concerns what constitutes a catch.
The league adopted a rule that says a player has caught the ball when he has control, two feet or another body part down and either making or having the ability to make a football move. The football move has been defined as a third step; reaching with the ball; tucking the ball away; turning upfield; or avoiding or warding off an opponent.
At a clinic for officials in Dallas on Friday, NFL officiating head Al Riveron said that he thought officials were largely calling games that way and said the new rule gets everything, including replay, on the same page.
“How do we make this particular play a catch? How do we make the Dez Bryant play a catch and still stay within the rules and the confines? We brought in legends, we brought in coaches, we brought in officials, we brought in supervisors and said how do we make it better? How do we get these exciting plays back in the game. I think we’ve come up -- I know we’ve come up with a great rule,” Riveron said, via Tadd Haislop of Sporting News.
Some have suggested the change in the rule will lead to more fumbles along with more completions and we’ll learn the first implications of the change once preseason games get underway next month.