Georgia football won’t be affected by new tight end rule at all

The NCAA implemented a new blocking rule for tight ends this offseason, and while it’ll affect some of the teams, one team it won’t is Georgia football.

Georgia is becoming a program that lands the best tight ends in the country each recruiting cycle, and while the Dawgs use them for both blocking and making big plays, they don’t have any schemes this new rule would hinder.

Head coach Kirby Smart got asked this question last week at SEC Media Days, and to no one’s surprise, he was on the committee that helped put it in place.

There are some interesting blocking techniques out there that some teams use, and they can really cause injury, among other things, so finding safer ways to play the game is important for all college football programs.

Georgia football won’t have to worry about altering its tight end blocking with the new rule.

The NCAA announced their new rule changes earlier this offseason, and blocking below the waist was one of them.

Blocking below the waist is still allowed in some instances, but when it’s legal shrank tremendously. This rule states that blocking below the waist is only permitted by linemen and stationary backs inside the tackle box, but outside the tackle box, it is not allowed anymore.

"“It shouldn’t affect us. The new blocking rule, which I was a part of the committee that put that in place, we’re not a big team that cuts and blocks that way,” Smart said during his SEC Media Days press conference. “So it’s a safety issue. We like to block man-to-man, face up. We’re not a big cut team. We don’t rely on the cut block so it shouldn’t change a lot for us.”"

Safety is vital in today’s football world because there are far too many injuries that happen. While football is a contact sport and injuries are bound to happen if the NCAA can eliminate blocks like the ones this rule addresses, it does genuinely make the game safer.

Smart has his tight ends work on man-to-man blocking, which helps on the perimeter, but they also use them as extra linemen when the Dawgs need a little more push up front.

Georgia football isn’t someone that likes to cut, so while this rule is one to get to know, it won’t affect the Dawgs. However, it’ll hopefully help keep some of the Dawgs’ players safer against the teams that use the cut and block stuff.