The NFL’s new kickoff rule is a massive change that will force teams to rethink roster construction.
The NFL‘s new kickoff rule was met with plenty of opinions when the league announced the change over two months ago. Kickoff returns had been falling for quite some time and the league hadn’t updated the aspect of the sport since 2016. Now, with increasing player safety concerns, lulls in offensive gameplay, and a desire to keep the sport fresh– the league has completely revamped kickoffs forcing teams to rethink their roster construction.
For years the kickoff was a mainstay of all forms of football. Ten players on the kicking team race to the other side of the field to tackle the returner. Kickoffs were meant to be exciting, add a stage of allure to an otherwise vanilla side of the ball– special teams. But, they are notoriously dangerous. Kickoffs are one of the only phases of the game that has players running into each other at true full speed.
The NFL’s player safety campaign throughout the 2010’s and ’20s has pushed for change in some way. But, the NFL was reluctant, kickoffs and their subsequent returns were a massive part of an offensive-focused game. The better the field position of a team– the better chance they have to score, obviously.
The NFL finally caved into external pressure last year in 2023 where they approved a rule change that would allow fair catches within 25 yards of the endzone to have the same impact as a touchback with the ball being placed at the 25-yard-line. This resulted in an all-time low of kickoffs returned in Week 1 of 2023, only 20.5% of kicks were returned.
Now, the NFL has released their new overhaul of the kickoff, a decision that had been in the talks for a while.
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Kickoffs will remain at the 35-yard line, but the remaining ten players on the kicking unit will line up at the opposing team’s 40-yard line. The receiving team lines up with at least seven players in the “set-up zone,” a five-yard area between their own 35- and 30-yard lines, with a maximum of two returners can line up in the landing zone, a new addition for this year.
After the ball is kicked, the kicker cannot cross the 50-yard line and the 10 kicking team players cannot move until the ball hits the ground or a player in the landing zone or goes into the end zone. The receiving team’s players in the set-up zone also cannot move until the kick has hit the ground or a player in the landing zone or the end zone. The returners may move at any time before or during the kickoff.
As with most drastic rule changes in the league, this will be put on a trial period of one year, on par with other rule changes such as changing the touchback location, moving the extra point back, and allowing for pass interference to be a reviewable call. This new rule has forced teams to take a renewed look at their special teams.
For years, returners had been a product of two things– versatility, their ability to play multiple position in addition to returning, and inexperience, returners were usually second or third-string players who needed to find a role on the team before they were given the keys to their full-time position.
With the exception of players like Cordarrelle Patterson or Devin Hester, kick returners had started to become an afterthought– especially in wake of rule changes that disincentivized taking the ball out in exchange for player safety. Now, teams are essentially forced to take the ball out meaning returners must be able to– return.
That premise itself has already led to a new influx of players being signed solely for returning. The Eagles signed former 40-yard-dash record holder John Ross III even after a failed stint at wide receiver with the Cincinnati Bengals. Ross failed to do much of anything with the Bengals and dealt with the injury bug during his entire tenure but the Eagles have found value in his speed and his return skills.
“I think I’m faster,” Ross said. “And I know that’s going to be crazy to say. I’m not feeling the same way I felt before physically. That’s why I say I think I’m faster. And when I say that, don’t get me wrong. I ran a 4.22. I’m not saying I’m a 4.15 or anything.
“But what I’m saying is I just feel better so I think I can consistently be faster and I think that was my biggest thing. Can this guy go every single day and look the same every single day? And I feel like I’m getting to the point where I can be consistent with my speed. And to me that’s the biggest thing.”
Even though Ross hasn’t taken many reps at the position, his talent is shiny enough to attract the acquisition from the Eagles, who now have to grapple with the fact that kick returns are no longer a gimme anymore.
Likewise, the Denver Broncos pulled a parallel move earlier in the offseason. The team signed BJ West, a scrawny, 148-pound wide receiver out of FCS-level Alabama State. Like Ross, West never put up any discernable statistics– nothing that pops out that would get a FCS player signed to a professional team in the first place. In fact, West actually totaled negative five yards during his time with the Hornets, meaning you, yes you, the reader, have more yards than West. Yet, his ability to return kicks couldn’t be denied and with the position now demanding a heavy premium and having a newfound valuation– he was worth the sign.
In 2023, West appeared in five games, returned five kicks and had an astonishing 135 yards– averaging 22.6 yards per carry. This could prove valuable for teams who have neglected the returner position for years and have been able to get by off of touchbacks alone.
Rule changes are a given for the NFL and with teams being forced to adapt, make no doubt that we’ll see much more teams put a focus on the returner position. With the 53-active player rule not changing, this means we might see compromises being made with depth. For example, a team that signed a new kick returner might have to sacrifice the third-string right tackle. What positions are most expendable is left to be seen. Players might have to take on long-snapping roles or establish themselves as serviceable returners in order to guarantee added job security.
The change has been seen on the other side of the ball as well. Teams fear that the new rules will force their kickers to be more involved in tackles– something that could be dangerous for a position that isn’t used to taking hits. While we have seen the likes of Pat McAfee make serious noise in the tackling world over the years– make no doubt, this is the exception, not the norm.
The Kansas City Chiefs have looked into having safety Justin Reid be a kickoff specialist.
“I like to have somebody who can go back and is able to make a tackle,” Chiefs’ special teams coordinator Dave Toub explained. “(Harrison) Butker is able to make a tackle, but I really don’t want him making tackles all year long. If you watch the XFL, we watched every play, I bet kickers were involved in at least 25 to 40 percent of the tackles. In either trying to make a guy bounce back or making the tackle himself, or just missing the tackle. We don’t want Butker in that situation. But he will be a kicker.
“He will be a guy that we use in certain situations. He’s got a lot of ability to move the ball whereas those other guys may not be apt to do that. … He can still a touchback if we need it. You’re just giving up the ball. If we do kick a touchback out of the back of the end zone, now they’re getting the ball at the 30 instead of the 25. So that 5 yards makes a big difference. That’s another three percent chance you’re giving the offense to score.”
