In a Friday conference call, Rich McKay and Troy Vincent addressed the media on behalf of the NFL’s Competition Committee.

McKay, the president and CEO of the Atlanta Falcons and retired NFL cornerback Vincent, spoke about the NFL’s Annual Meeting next week.

Potential rule changes for the 2018 season were discussed and as expected, the potential changes to the rulebook about a catch were the hot button topic.

Vincent was clear about what went into the process of working backwards towards determining what a catch is.

Two years ago when we first brought in a group of former players and active players, we just began looking at the rule itself. What the current rule is, walking through the rule, and there was a different interpretation on what someone thought the rule should be, and what the rule is. Then over the past year, we brought in additional voices and additional videos, and then we said let’ s reverse the question. “Do you want the Calvin Johnson play to be a catch?”

Turning the question from what a catch is to what it should be has allowed the Competition Committee to establish a simpler process as to what should constitute a catch.

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McKay was clear about the simplicity the rule needed and referenced one of the flashpoint moments of the 2017 season in laying out the new process for a catch.

Definable three step process. Control, meaning a clean catch of the ball, two feet down or a body part, and then doing anything with the ball that is a football act. That could be reaching for the goal line like Jesse James, or tucking the ball, or if you had enough time to do it but didn’t need it.

That Jesse James play from week 15 last season was one of the key sparks in the escalation of the catch vs. no catch debate. With the Pittsburgh Steelers trailing the Patriots 27-24 in the final minute of a critical game for postseason positioning, tight end James appeared to catch the game-winning touchdown, but it was ruled incomplete.

McKay went outright and stated the “Jesse James play would be a touchdown” if the new guidelines for a catch were adopted.

Elsewhere in the passing game, the issue of all defensive pass interference penalties potentially being 15-yard penalties as it is in college football instead of being enforced at the spot of the foul was a key talking point. As you would expect for a man who spent 16 years covering NFL wide receivers, Vincent weighed in.

The difference between college and professional is that the professional defensive backs are too smart, too skilled, and can play the play. You don’t want the defensive back being able to strategically grab the guy.

The difference in skill between the college and NFL defenders is one of the chief reasons the rule currently stands as a spot of the foul penalty. In terms of the new rule possibly being adopted, Vincent closed out his statement by simply saying the proposal for cutting it down to 15-yard penalty “has momentum”.

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While it seems like a seismic shift to the way passes are defended, McKay referenced statistics that would point to the contrary. Out of 40,000 plays and 17,000 pass attempts last season, there were only 11 plays where a spot of the foul defensive pass interference penalty resulted in a gain of more than 40 yards, and just one of over 50 yards for the offensive team.

Player safety is always at the forefront of concerns for the NFL Competition Committee, and once again it was the kickoff finding its way into the heart of the discussion.

The NFL has taken efforts in recent years to eliminate the dangerous aspect of kickoffs, most notably changing them from the 30-yard line to the 35 to increase touchbacks.

We have seen the return rate come down by this change. We are still concerned about the injury data, and we want to definitely look at all these plays and see if there are any other modifications” said McKay, who even hinted at the possibility of kickoffs being entirely eliminated, dropping the line “there has been discussion over the years about it.”

The potential rule changes will be voted on at NFL Annual Meeting, taking place between March 25th and 28th in Orlando, Florida.