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In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock for the last six months, the NFL is set to debut brand new kickoff rules when the 2024 season begins on Thursday night.
The new kickoff, which has been in place all preseason, features coverage and return teams lining up five yards apart from one another and remaining stationary until the kick returner fields the ball.
The intent of the rule is to improve safety and increase the number of returnable kicks, but several NFL coaches and executives believe that it’ll do neither.
“The league wants everyone to think it’s a fix and will jam it down our throats and say, ‘See, it works, the return numbers are up.’ But is it really better? Questionable,” an NFL general manager told Diana Russini of The Athletic.
NFL Coaches Are Already Planning Ways To Kill The New Kickoff Rules
That’s a fairly damning indictment. But the executive is just one of several high-ranking members of teams to express their concern.
“(It’s) entertaining, yes, the special teams gurus (on teams like) the Saints and Cowboys will scheme the s— out of this and return everything,” an NFC head coach said. “But a lot of teams are still gonna kick touchbacks. I think you can expect a slight decrease in touchbacks, but slight… the first big return against a team, they will get scared and kick touchbacks (after that).”
Therein lies the concern.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan recently said that he expects most teams to just concede a touchback which now comes out to the 30-yard line.
“It’s a hell of an idea. I haven’t thought of that,” Shanahan said of conceding a touchback. “Yeah, we’re all talking about that and it looks like it’ll make a lot of sense once the season starts. But, this was our first week with us doing it. It was our first week really getting more teams, besides the Hall of Fame game and stuff, to evaluate it.
When you can start there at the 30 and the average starting line’s the 29, it doesn’t seem like there’s that much of a difference to really go with the risk of it. It also can be an advantage too.”
But what about the safety aspect? The NFL is attempting to limit the amount of high-speed collisions on returns. But one AFC general manager isn’t sure that’ll happen.
“The coverage players are on top of the blockers very quickly and if (a blocker) misses the block or takes a false step, there are more opportunities for high-speed collisions with the returner,” he told Russini. “Blockers are in a spot where they do not have ample time to react which leads to coverage players getting clean to the (returner).”
So to recap.
Coaches expect fewer returns. General managers expect similar injuries. So, why exactly did the NFL change the rule?