'A Player In The Act Of Throwing A Pass' Is Now A Defenseless Player According To The NCAA, Which Will Surely Not Cause Any Problems This Season

The SEC Officiating Twitter account posted this new NCAA rule for 2022 which makes "a player in the act of or just after throwing a pass" a defenseless player. The rule adds that even a player "in a passing posture" is considered defenseless.

I've read this a dozen times and I'm still trying to figure out what it even means. I'm sure this is just an addendum to the targeting rule, but the language is extremely unclear. I need an official to explain to me what, exactly, this means and why it's different than how targeting has previously been enforced — if they even know yet.

What I can glean from this announcement is that someone is going to get royally fucked at a critical moment this season. Officials have enough to look for and enforce and now we've added additional protections for the already most highly protected position on the field. Every hit on a quarterback more forceful than a light push is going to draw extra attention now, which will certainly lead to more flags.

I'd guess targeting as it was previously enforced polled about as well among college football fans as noon kickoffs in 100-degree heat, and it doesn't seem like this addition is going to make the rule be enforced any more conservatively. Hopefully the effects of this will be minimal, though I'm skeptical until we see what it even means.