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Over the years, the NFL and concussions have become somewhat synonymous with one another. However, with the introduction of Guardian Caps in the NFL — along with the idea that the league is more conscious of brain injuries — there was a significant drop in concussions throughout the 2024 season. In fact, the NFL released its most promising concussion data in nearly a decade, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
“The total of 182 concussions during games and practices in both the preseason and regular season represented a 17% drop from 2023. The previous low for the same time period was 187 in 2022, not counting the 2020 season when COVID protocols canceled the preseason.”
While 187 concussions reported isn’t a piece of data that the NFL should be overly happy about, it shows that the league is moving in the right direction for making football a safer game, as far as brains are involved.
Since 2015 — when concussion-tracking data began in the NFL — the league has been working towards making brain injuries a less frequent part of their violent game.
However, considering all of the variables — like number of players, number of snaps in a season, etc. — the NFL has quite a ways to go until concussions aren’t as prominent as they are now.
In fact, Seifert posted a table on X to give a visual representation of concussion trends throughout the NFL since 2015.
“Here’s a good snapshot of NFL concussion data over the years, via the @NFL, culminating in today’s record low,” Seifert wrote. “There were no preseason games in 2020, accounting for that lower number.”
Here's a good snapshot of NFL concussion data over the years, via the @NFL, culminating in today's record low. There were no preseason games in 2020, accounting for that lower number. pic.twitter.com/gwpHEtXLED
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) January 30, 2025
As this table shows, brain injuries were rampant in the NFL in 2015, with 275 total concussions reported.
However, from 2021 until 2024, there’s been a slight decrease overall, with the number never surpassing 220 over those four seasons.
When doing the math, if each team (32) has a 53-man roster, that would mean there are approximately 1,700 players in the NFL.
So, if approximately 220 players of the 1,700-person pool end up with a concussion, that looks much better than saying 220 players got a concussion.
Another part of this graph to keep in mind is that 2020 was skewed since there wasn’t a preseason that year. That essentially knocks out anywhere from 54 (most) to 22 (fewest) concussions.
With introductions to the NFL like Guardian Caps and the new kickoff rules, it’s clear that the league is hopeful to nullify concussions across football.
But, when fans watch players get knocked out mid-game — like with Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — it’s hard to say that the NFL has its concussion problem under control completely.
It could take a while to reduce concussions in the...
