The NFL has seen many changes over the last few years, and many have given the players more freedom of choice, from more jersey numbers to choose from to more available helmets. Their choices for headgear just increased even more, as the options for 2024 will double for position-specific helmets.
The news was revealed by the annual helmet safety rankings, released by the NFL and NFL Players Association on Tuesday.
Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy, noted the significance of the increase and how this benefits the players.
"It's a fantastic pace of innovation," Miller said (via ESPN). "The players in those position groups will have a lot of options that they haven't had before."
We're raising the standard for helmet safety, introducing 5 new models that tested better than any helmet worn before.
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) April 9, 2024
As part of our annual helmet lab testing with the @NFL, 12 new helmet models will be available to players in 2024, including 8 new position-specific helmets. pic.twitter.com/MIMYc28yjM
Of the top 12 ranked helmets, eight are designed for quarterbacks or offensive/defensive linemen. There are new manufacturers, including Ridell, which ranks No. 1 with their Axiom 3D model.
The NFL was pushing for more variety for helmets. In 2022, the NFL and NFLPA approved the first position-specific helmets for linemen. In 2023, they approved the first position-specific helmet for quarterbacks to go along with two options for linemen.
Nine quarterbacks wore the helmets, something Miller calls a "good start," but added that it was a "a little more modest than we would have liked" in terms of the 20 lineman wearing the models. Miller is looking to increase those figures as more options become available.
"As more manufacturers are building those helmets for linemen, I think that there's an opportunity to grow those numbers," he said.
Each position has a different area to target when it comes to helmet safety, with some positions taking more hits than others. The lineman helmet give extra protection in the front to "account for sub-concussive contact" after the snap, said Dr. Annie Bailey Good, a senior mechanical engineer at Biocore, the NFL's engineering partner.
The NFL has made an attempt to prevent concussions through rule changes and now through helmet options. Thad Ide, Riddell's executive vice president of research and product development, said "time will tell" if these position-specific helmets will make a difference in concussion prevention.
"To be good partners with the NFL and to provide the best protection for their players, we sort of followed suit," Ide said. "We absorbed those test methods and ways of evaluating the helmets and tuned some of our helmets accordingly to perform in the quarterback sense or the offensive and defensive line sense."
The NFL and NFLPA are working on helmet advancements and continuing to investigate why Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' helmet cracked last season during a low-temperature playoff game. Helmet adjustments, new testing procedures and altered game-day protocols could take place based on their findings.
