Green Bay Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy wants the push-assisted quarterback sneak – which was made famous by Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2022 season – to be banned by the NFL with a rule change this offseason.
In fact, Murphy has been leading the charge on a change. The Packers president wrote about the issue in his monthly Q&A column at the team’s official site.
From Murphy: “I raised this issue with the league regarding potential rule changes. I agree completely with your assessment of the play. Also, more and more teams are using it. The Eagles probably use it more than any other team, and it looked to me like it was almost automatic. Last year, teams picked up first downs 90% of the time with this play. In addition, Sean Payton said he would regularly use the play on third- and fourth-and-1. I hope the play is banned. One thought would be to prohibit pushing the runner (usually the QB on a QB sneak) between the tackles. There used to be a rule prohibiting aiding the runner, but it was too hard for the officials to officiate – so now you can push the runner but can’t pull the runner.”
The Eagles converted 29 of 32 quarterback sneaks in 2022. On most of the plays, Hurts took the snap from under center and was promptly aided upfield in his sneak attempt by one or two players positioned in the backfield.
The NFL Competition Committee is expected to address the play and/or rule change at the league meetings next month. Murphy wants a specific ruling to ban pushing the quarterback on sneaks, not pushing ball carriers in general.