Yes, we will be able to have the non-graded assignment and do not display it in the gradebook, which is great. But to make it work, we will now have to remove the option for teachers to leave written comments.
Based on what I see, it is quite rare for teachers to have the assignment dropbox where they would not want to provide a response to the students.
Imho, it would be better to have a checkbox on activities - include in the gradebook vs not.