I hate cut blocking in 11-man. One of the most brutal plays in crowded ball is an offensive lineman cut blocking a defensive lineman, especially when the latter is engaged with another offensive lineman or does not see it coming because he is pursing the play. Although I am usually vehemently against rules addressing "player safety" in general, I see the logic behind this in 11-man.
If the offense chooses to run tight in 6-man, it is pretty similar to 11-man with the exception that, in my opinion, there are less knee injuries in 6-man due to a lack of ineligible players, less players in general, the fact winning "the low game" for a lineman is less important in 6-man vs. 11-man, defensive lineman rarely get in a stance in 6-man because being able to see is often more important than winning the gap, and the blocking schemes are not as elaborate without as many traps, counters, pulls, influences, etc. While 6-man might be worse for concussions due to the fact, potentially, two players could hit each other with more momentum than in 11-man, a lack of knee injuries is a positive for 6-man.
Where I think cutblocking has a place is in spread. I was a fairly big boy, and other teams had upbacks that I outweighed by 60 to 80 pounds. The only way to "block me" before they flared was to chop me. Some of them could even chop me, get off the ground faster than me, and became open receivers. It is pretty safe because the defender sees, and probably knows, it is coming before the play starts. There are few analogous situations in 11-man.
Not allowing chop blocking in spread will put a premium on bigger upbacks and bigger rushers. Maybe that is a good thing, but so many 6-man players are small. I just hate to see the rules alter the game, even though it would help me as a player.
