New Kickoff Rules (2 Viewers)

[ZWK]

The biggest change is that ordinary touchbacks come out to the 30 in the NFL vs. the 35 in the XFL/UFL. That makes kicking teams more willing to just boot it out the back of the end zone. The average return in the XFL reached between the 28 and 29, which is within a yard or two to where the NFL touchback goes, and if it's the same in the NFL we may see a fair amount of intentional touchbacks by kicking teams that decide to play it safe rather than facing the uncertainty of a return. If the average NFL return makes it past the 30 (which is possible, because there are a few other rule differences, and talent differences) then we might just get a touchbackfest.

The other potentially huge change is that in the NFL the 10 tacklers on the kicking team can start moving as soon as the ball hits the ground, if the kickoff bounces. The XFL/UFL they had to wait until the returner touched it, or for 3 seconds after its initial bounce (whichever came first). That might just be a minor difference which doesn't change much, but it also potentially could transform kickoffs into something really weird if kickers regularly try to hit tricky line drives with spin which bounce in the "landing zone" and are difficult to field. (I've seen these called "long squibs" and "line drive knuckleballs"). Then a big part of the kickoff play would be about how nasty a line drive kick the kicker can hit and whether one of the 2 returners can get to it and field it cleanly. But it's unclear how well this approach to kickoffs will work.

 

[JohnnyU]

Anything beats the almost automatic touchback.

 

[Snoopy]

The XFL had a severe penalty for kicks landing outside the landing zone -to the kicking team's 45.

 

[Stinkin Ref]

apologies if this has already been asked....I know you have to declare ahead of time that you are "onside" kicking.....but what happens if you do that and then go ahead and kick it all the way down to the 5 or whatever....is that a penalty.....?...what happens....I could see that being a way of manipulating the new rules...

 

[Stinkin Ref]

adding to my post above.... i think it says only the trailing team can declare an onside kick...and only in the 4th quarter...and only twice....sooooooo

let's say I score at the beginning of the 4th and I am down by one point....can I declare an onside kick and then just kick the **** out of it (kinda like normal) ....and if I do that...is it a penalty...or where do they get the ball.....what if it goes in end zone....what if it doesn't....is it a live ball, etc....

I guess what I am saying is there may be ways to kind of manipulate the new rules depending on what the rules/consequences are.....

does "declaring" an onside kick mean I have to kick it like we normally think of an onside kick or do I have some grey area....can I try to pouch it over the defenders....can I blast it down and try to beat them to it....who decides what an "onside kick" has to look like...

sorry this may sound stupid....but coaches always have and always will look for ways to manipulate things if there aren't clear rules in place...I could see some benefit of declaring an onside kick but then putting it in play downfield or blasting it out of the end zone...

 

[GregR]

apologies if this has already been asked....I know you have to declare ahead of time that you are "onside" kicking.....but what happens if you do that and then go ahead and kick it all the way down to the 5 or whatever....is that a penalty.....?...what happens....I could see that being a way of manipulating the new rules...

Yes, it is a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and so the receiving team would get the ball on the kicking team's 20 yard line.

The penalty is called if the ball goes more than 25 yards downfield without being touched. The alignment for onside kick is based on the old rules, kicking team even with the ball, receiving team 10 yards away. So there's basically a 15 yard cushion beyond the receiving team's line. If it goes beyond that untouched, then penalty. It's basically exactly the old rules except with this new penalty added for kicking it deeper.

 

[GregR]

15% more returns than last year at this point in preseason, 78% vs 63% last year.

The average return has gone for 25 yards, leading to an average drive start following kickoffs at the 28.3-yard line.

That increase has come with more variance as well. About 20% of drives after a kickoff have started inside the 20-yard line, 41% between the 21 and 30 and 36% beyond the 30.

The increase in total returns has led to more big plays with 11 returns of at least 40 yards, compared to six at this point last preseason.

Dawn Aponte, the league's chief football administrative officer, said Monday that it is "unlikely" that the league will move the touchback further up to further disincentivize kickoffs and said any other potential tweaks would come in the next 7 to 10 days as opposed to during the regular season.

As expected, kickers have been involved in more tackles. They've been credited with an assist or solo tackle roughly once in every four games, compared to the 2023 regular-season rate of once in every 15 games.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

More crazy rules to stir into an NFL game that already has many fans walking the ledge in the 4th Q waiting for the other shoe to drop on their team because they have no idea when the Refs are going to throw a flag for any numerous offenses such as Pass Interference, Holding, Roughing the QB even on a sack, Holding, Roughing the WR/TE because you didn't allow them to catch it cleanly and take 2 full steps before you touch them and of course Holding,

 

[markrc99]

Dawn Aponte, the league's chief football administrative officer, said Monday that it is "unlikely" that the league will move the touchback further up to further disincentivize kickoffs and said any other potential tweaks would come in the next 7 to 10 days as opposed to during the regular season.

Appreciate the information, below is more of what Aponte said:

"During a conference call with NFL reporters on Monday, NFL chief administrator of football operations Dawn Aponte said that it is "not likely" that the league would consider moving the touchback line up to the 35-yard line prior to the start of the 2024 NFL season. "It would be not likely," Aponte said, per Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk. "[T]he way we passed this and discussed it with the Competition Committee as well as membership at large was really about continuing to evaluate. It is a one-year rule change, so we anticipate to [evaluate] this throughout the season."

As cited, the new kickoff rule is in an evaluation mode, it isn't anything that's permanent. Nor should it be considered a finished product. I still believe the touchback line will be moved up. Key is whether the new alignment alleviates the rate of injury. There's a page at nfl.com explaining this new rule, one of the objectives is to promote more returns. If the rate of concussion is deemed acceptable, the play is going to be brought back.

What is gone & not coming back is defenders racing downfield, which causes much of the problem. I think at the very least we'll see some middle ground. If inside of the 2-minute warning, of either half, a kick into the end-zone is brought out to the 40 yd line.

 

[zed2283]

Why don't they just make the return mandatory unless it's kicked out of bounds (and brought to the 40)?

Going to repeat this. Make a return mandatory unless the kick goes out of bounds, then out to the 40. Keep everything else the same.

Pretty simple.

 

[belljr]

Can we go back to the oldish way. BYU just executed a perfect surprise onside kick.

 

[Rubi]

Get rid of the new kickoff
It sucks
Go back to the old way or find something else
The current rule is horrible

 

[markrc99]

Can we go back to the oldish way. BYU just executed a perfect surprise onside kick.

That's the tradeoff, the rare onside kick catching the opponent off guard. Great play, but you leave out the objective of the rule change. Which is to address a play that's largely just a formality. The only play that rivals the boredom of a touchback is the extra point. I'm not sure how many, but it seems like a lot of posters believe that what we've seen this year is the final product. This was an experiment, allowing teams to pass or tinker with it. According to NFL.com, going into week 17, Washington's touchback % was 19.6, New Orleans was 25.4%. Every other team was at least 40%, JAX the highest at 86.2%. So, a very broad range of percentages.

I suppose they could keep the touchback penalty at the 35yd line, but I agree with the comment above yours by Zed, I think the way forward is to change it to the 40yd line. The return is already mandatory for kicks that land inside the landing zone. I don't believe they'll adopt anything that compromises starting field position. They could just keep placement where it is & rule instead that the receiving team gains a timeout for every touchback. Given that the majority of games come down to the last possession or two, that would be huge.

To me, they need something that can replace the surprise onside kick. I think anything that lands in the landing zone & then bounces OOB should be placed where it went out! Kickers would be practicing the corner kick all day every day! Verses the kicker who's equally effective to the left or right, return teams might align their designated returners closer to the boundary. Which may invite line drive kicks straight down the middle of the field. I think they should further add that any kick that lands in the landing zone, crosses the goal line & then bounces OOB should be a safety!

Doesn't measure up? Returners can easily overplay the perimeter & get back to field something between the hash marks. I'm not sure that is true, but let's say that it is. The kicker gets to kick off ... from wherever he wants! Okay, maybe not anywhere but he only has to be just inside the 50yd line & within the hash marks. C'mon! They can bring this play back & in a big way!