On paper, it sounds strange. Why would a former defensive lineman like J.J. Watt want an offensive holding penalty to be less consequential? But as he explained it on Wednesday’s Pat McAfee Show, reducing the punishment will incentivize officials to call it more instead of swallowing their whistle on a toss-up of a call.
Speaking with McAfee, Watt believes the NFL should make offensive holding a 5-yard penalty instead of its current 10-yard infraction.
“What I think is the answer,” Watt told the show. “Because I think refs understand a 10-yard penalty is a massive penalty in the NFL. So I think if you made a 5-yard penalty, I think it’s going to be called much more fairly and much more realistically. Because it’s not as crippling to the offense.”
An interesting and strong point. An offense flagged ten yards, putting them from say 1st and 10 to 1st and 20, is setting themselves up to stall their drive. And in an offensive world where points equal excitement and ratings, there may be at least a subconscious bias for refs to avoid calling the penalty unless it’s blatant and obvious.
Star pass rushers like T.J. Watt rarely draw holding calls. As we noted in December, Watt drew only one holding call as a pass rusher to that point of the season. Elsewhere, Dallas Cowboys LB Micah Parsons went nearly 40 quarters without drawing a single hold.
Throughout his career, J.J. Watt understood the times when lineman would get away with holding. As codified into the rulebook, refs won’t call holding when pass rushers try a rip move, the reason why T.J. Watt and James Harrison seem to be held endlessly without ever getting a call. Watt said refs also won’t call a hold when a player is doubled or when an offensive lineman has his hands inside a rusher on a power/bull rush. There is only one time they’ll throw the flag.
“It has to be outside of the body where a guy is literally pulling you. And it’s away from the body…I learned by the end of my career what they were going to call and what they won’t.”
In football’s early days, blocking with the hands wasn’t even allowed. Lineman had to use their forearms and elbows to stay in front, making what guys like the Colts’ Jim Parker did throughout his Hall of Fame career all the more impressive. Some more history. As highlighted by Football Zebras, until 1977, holding was a 15-yard penalty from the spot of the foul. So a holding call five yards into the backfield turned into a 20-yard penalty. In 1978, the same year the NFL moved to a 16-game season, holding became “only” a 10-yard penalty.
If the NFL changed it once, they can change it again. There are pros and cons to the idea. Make it a 5-yard penalty and lineman might be more willing to hold given the less severe penalty of its consequence. And there’s no guarantee refs would throw more flags for it. Perhaps their mentality wouldn’t change, especially knowing how it’s “taught” and thought about today. But it’s an interesting idea from Watt, even if it’s unlikely to become reality anytime soon.
