The NFL’s new kickoff rules were a hot topic at the league’s spring meetings, with the league deciding to opt for an XFL-style approach to a play that had degenerated into a ritualistic fair catch. In 2023, Fewer than 20 percent of the league’s kickoff attempts were returned.Additionally, league research has shown that if the returner decides to try and catch the ball, the play is dangerous. Concussion rates during kickoffs nearly doubled Something that was not a fair catch.
The NFL’s new kickoff rule will save the day! Well, maybe not. Before we get into the critique of this new rule, let’s go into the details of the rule.
- The kicker kicks from his or her own 35-yard line, but may not advance beyond the 50-yard line until the ball hits the ground or is hit by a returner in the “landing zone.”
- The remaining 10 players on the kickoff covering team line up on the returner’s 40-yard line on the field and may not move until the returner touches the ball or it hits the ground.
- The return team is assigned a minimum of nine and a maximum of ten returners between the 30-yard line and the 35-yard line on the returner’s side of the field (some teams use two returners, some only one). Like the kickoff coverage players, the returner cannot move until he has had a chance to catch the ball or until the ball hits the ground.
- If the ball is kicked into the “landing zone” (between the 20-yard line and the goal line), the return team will attempt to return the kickoff. If the ball lands in the “landing zone” and either bounces out of the end zone or is downed by the returner, the next drive will start at the offensive 20-yard line.
- However, if the ball is kicked out of the end zone without landing in the “landing zone”, the drive will start at the 30-yard line.
- One more thing: No surprise onside kicks until the fourth quarter. The only time an onside kick can be taken before the fourth quarter is if it’s announced in advance.
This is similar to the XFL’s approach to kickoffs before the 2024 spring league dissolved into the UFL, with a few notable differences. First, XFL kickoffs were returned on average to the 29-yard line, whereas the NFL also kept kickoffs on the opposite 35-yard line (5 yards from where XFL kickoffs began). Also, the XFL placed its kickoff covering team on the 35-yard line instead of the returner’s 40-yard line, which meant starting field position could actually be further down the field.
So if the average starting field position in the XFL is the 29-yard line, and that number has the potential to grow, why would a team make a negative expectation play by kicking the ball away rather than kicking it out of the end zone and securing a 30-yard touchback? Sources say this is one of the strategies that influences special teams coordinators’ kickoff strategies. What if there aren’t enough touchback penalties and teams just keep kicking? This is one of the unintended consequences.
Another difference between the XFL and the new NFL kickoff approach is that the new NFL rules do not limit hang time, meaning kickoff specialists simply need to throw the ball as hard as they can into the “landing zone” to make it harder to catch, giving the kick coverage team more time to get closer to the returner who can’t make a fair catch of the ball. According to the special teams coordinator: Athletic Early this month“The ball hitting the ground will have an artificial hang time, so the rules encourage squibs and wild kick variations, which will be just like the show.”
Since the rule was announced, NFL kickoff strategies have essentially split into two camps, according to sources: A) teams either kick the ball out of the end zone and start safely at the 30-yard line, assuming returns will, on average, go beyond that point, or B) they throw the ball in weird ways that make it harder to make a clean catch, assuming returns will, on average, go beyond the 30-yard line.
Don’t you believe it? The NFL had to send out a memo last week banning kicking tees from placing footballs sideways.The day most of the league’s training camps begin.
of Green Bay Packers‘Special teams coordinator Rich Bisacchia has not only served as an assistant head coach with five franchises; Las Vegas RaidersInterim head coach for the 2021 season, He maintained on Monday that he expects some sort of change to the kickoff rules throughout the preseason and regular season..
While the original rule change was approved by league owners in a 29-3 vote, the strategies NFL special teams coordinators deploy to “win downs” don’t seem to bear any resemblance to the plays the owners were trying to encourage. Bisacchia was quite blunt on Monday, before questioning whether the alignments and touchback landmarks would remain consistent throughout the 2024 season: “Are we going to play every ball? Are we going to kick touchbacks? What’s the new drive start going to be? If the drive starts at 30 yards and we allow two returns to the 38-yard line, the next drive we’re going to kick it out for a touchback.”
