Mar 26, 2024, 8:05 p.m. ET
To generate more kickoff returns and maintain safety, the NFL’s changes will be “completely new for everyone.”
ORLANDO, Fla. — Rich McKay joined the NFL competition committee 29 years ago and is the longest serving member in its history. As he took a moment to reflect Tuesday, he could only think of another rule change that matched the importance of the initial review that owners approved that morning by a 29-3 vote.
“And that was replay,” McKay noted of the decision to bring back replay review in 1998, marking the continued infusion of technology to determine the outcome of games. Otherwise, the changes to the kickoff — a fundamental and aesthetic redesign that the NFL hopes will double the return rate and reduce the injury rate — are as big as they come.
Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs prepares to kick the ball to start Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rob Carr/Getty Images
“This will be completely new for everyone,” said New Orleans Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, who worked closely with the committee on the redesign. “But more importantly, we feel like we’ve made this play extremely relevant and, more importantly, much safer.”
ESPN has been chronicling this kickoff approach since the XFL developed it in 2020 and noted growing interest from the NFL last summer. Here’s what you need to know about the version the NFL adopted Tuesday for a one-year experiment, based on three days of reporting at the league’s annual meeting.
What’s different about this kickoff structure?
The cornerstone of this approach is to line up most of the players downfield before the shot rather than having them run there while the ball is in the air. That change should reduce the number of high-speed crashes that cause injuries. The kicker will continue to kick from his 35-yard line, but the remaining 10 members of the kicking team will line up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line. At least nine members of the return team will be between their 35- and 30-yard lines in what is called the “staging zone.”
And then what?
Ideally, the ball will land between the 20-yard line and the goal line, called the “landing zone,” where the receiving team will have one or (more likely) two returns. If the ball lands in the end zone or leaves the end zone, the resulting touchback will be detected at the 30-yard line. If it is kicked out of bounds, the ball will be placed on the 40.
What about coverage?
No one except the kicker and returner may move until the ball is caught or hits the ground. That will create some admittedly awkward seconds when 19 or 20 players stand still while the ball is in the air.
“It seems a little strange,” Rizzi said. “It’s not the football we all grew up watching.”
The NFL’s hybrid kickoff for 2024. pic.twitter.com/enyoNNEnSp
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) March 26, 2024
How will those players know when to move?
The kicking team will be able to see the ball hit the ground or to which it returns and will likely have a bit of an advantage, Rizzi acknowledged. The question was one of many discussed by nearly 60 special teams coaches in February at the NFL combine.
“I think some coaches will teach their unit back in the setup zone to work with the kickoff team and react,” Rizzi added. “And I think some guys maybe have their vision in the backfield and their eyes back to the returner, and they’ll continue with the bunt. So again, in talking to all the coaches, I think it’s going to be one of those things that they work on. “Maybe a couple different ways in camp and see what’s best. It’ll be a work in progress.”
How will this help resurrect the kickoff?
The NFL spent more than a decade trying to address high injury rates on kickoffs by adopting rules designed to reduce returns via touchbacks and fair catches. By 2023, only 21% of kickoffs were returned.
McKay projected that 50% to 60% of kickoffs will be returned in 2024. That would add roughly 1,000 plays to the NFL season.
Wasn’t the original projection between 80% and 90%?
Yes, but the committee made an adjustment this week to the original proposal, moving the touchback point of the 35-yard line to 30 yards, a compromise that helped the proposal gain enough support to pass. It will reduce the incentive to avoid a touchback, but it would still represent a big jump in return rate.
“It’s good for us to start with this rule,” McKay said. “If it works the way we think, it will continue to be successful in many ways.”
Does 5 yards really make a big difference?
Yes. Some coaches want to avoid returns without the result being a point as serious as the 35-yard line.
“A team may not feel good about its ability to cover kicks that week,” admitted Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel, “or the team feels like it’s kicking to a great returner or kick return team. kicks that has incredible momentum. At first, you might just want to have a touchback.”
What about side kicks?
Teams must declare their intention to use an internal formation, which will resemble the traditional formation used until this season. That rules out the possibility of a surprise onside kick, a big draw that isn’t used as often as it might seem. In 2023, for example, there were two in 272 regular season games.
What about ground kicks?
Under the new rule, any kick that lands before the 20-yard line will be immediately disallowed and scored at the 40-yard line. That would eliminate the use of the squib in most situations.
“Those strategic parts of the (old) kickoff in the middle and late game, where you can maybe take some time off the clock with a ground kick and things like that, that element will also be gone,” Rizzi said.
What are the implications for staff here?
The educated assumption among coaches this week is that most teams will use two returners, because there are field position ramifications if a ball hits the ground in the landing zone. A member of the kicking team could beat a single player returning it and, because it is a live ball, recover it for a change of possession. If the ball lands in the field of play, then rolls into the end zone and there is a touchback, it will be scored at the 20-yard line instead of the 30-yard line.
For that reason, and because of the expected increase in returns, the value of kickoff returners is going to “skyrocket,” Fassel said.
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Teams could also recalibrate the makeup of their depth to account for the fact that there will be more in-line blocks and fewer runs on kickoffs. One coach suggested that offensive and defensive linemen could be used more frequently in those situations.
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell noted that he and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp are excited about the possibility of strategic innovation.
“You want to feel like you’re going to do something a little unique or something they’re not prepared to do,” Campbell said. “And that’s really what it is, right? You want to try to find something that they’re not prepared for, that they’re not prepared for, whatever it is. Maybe it’s been done, maybe it hasn’t.”
Are all the teams behind this?
Not completely.
San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York was one of three owners who voted against the proposal. On Tuesday he indicated that he is fully in favor of making it “a more royal work rather than a ceremonial work.” But, considering what he called a “drastic change,” York hoped there would be a way to modify the rule during the season if unintended immediate consequences arose.
“I’m 100 percent in favor of trying to get that play back into our game,” York said. “And I think they put a lot of time and a lot of effort into trying to make something work. I’m sure there will be adjustments, and I’d rather tweak it if I need to in the future rather than: ‘Here’s star season, and then we’re going to modify it at the end of the year.'”
Would field position be one of those possible consequences?
Yeah.
According to Fassel, the average initial position of the units will be much more unpredictable given the possible variation of the return strategy. According to the numbers he provided Tuesday, 80% of last season’s offensive drives started around the 25-yard line. Projections for the new rule indicate that 40% of drives will begin at the 30-yard line or longer. Another 30% will start inside the 20-yard line. And the remaining 30% would start between the 20 and 30 yards.
“I think there was a little bit of a fear factor for some teams where, ‘I don’t know if the ball starts at the 12-25 or the 39,'” he said. “But I think the unpredictability of it is also exciting. So you’re going to get a lot more variation and driveability with this model than you did with the previous one, which I think is good.”
How much will injuries be reduced?
The key metric the NFL has been tracking is the concussion rate, which for kickoffs has been three to five times higher than typical offensive plays over the past decade due to the nature of the collisions.
“The goal,” said NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy Jeff Miller, “is to get the injury and concussion rate very similar to a run or a pass from scrimmage. Will it be a little higher? Will it be the same? Will it be a little lower?
“We’ll have to see how teams strategize, but we’ve created the mechanisms by bringing players closer together and minimizing the space that we think should be in that area. Then, if we need to play and adapt that after we get some data after the year, “We’ll be fine. Help? Sure.”
ESPN’s Stephen Holder and Nick Wagoner contributed to this story.
2024-03-27 01:05:00
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