The NFL's 2024 kickoff rules could cause excitement … and chaos: “It will be like a show”

The NFL's recent kickoff rules are designed to revive one in every of the sport's most enjoyable plays while reducing the danger of injury through fewer high-speed collisions. The plan is for the XFL-style setup to open up opportunities for returners.

Unless that is the case.

One factor that would limit the return teams' options is that the NFL allows the coverage unit to start its pursuit when the ball hits the bottom when the returner touches the ball (as within the XFL). In the XFL, there have been too many false starts and misjudgments of when the ball was in possession. The coverage team tried to time its start in order that the returner would pick up the ball, but often jumped too early, disrupting the flow of the sport.

“The rules basically provide an incentive to kick the … weirdest, crappiest kicks you can kick,” an NFL special teams coach told The Athletic. “Any ball that can touch the ground is now artificial hang time. And so the rules encourage variations of squibs and wild kicks. And it's going to be like a show.”

One of the explanations for the massive changes to kickoffs was to make the sport a spectacle again, but when teams can continually get the ball on the bottom and mess up the play, the league might consider adjusting this rule. In practice, teams have found that it's almost not possible to dam someone once the ball hits the bottom.

This is partly why the Kansas City Chiefs are experimenting with former rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit and safety Justin Reid as kickers. The kicks don't must be top quality, and a nasty kick that lands in the best zone can create that artificial hang time.

Drew Jordan

The other reason is that kickers are more often involved in tackles. Dave Toub, the Chiefs' longtime special teams coordinator, estimated that XFL kickers were involved in 25 to 40 percent of tackles on kickoffs — even in the event that they didn't make the tackles themselves, they’d to do their part to get the returner to alter direction. Considering how invaluable a great kicker is, special teams coaches will want to keep them out of harm's way.

There has been some creativity in return teams within the XFL, but most have been boring and there haven't been many great returns. Adding a second returner and having higher quality players available could open up the chance for more creativity. However, there’s a probability that when the brand new rules are implemented, there won't be much willingness to deviate from regular returns. Special teams coaches are conservative by nature, as their units' mistakes are sometimes exaggerated.

While the brand new rules could also be a letdown, there continues to be reason for optimism as coaches have used OTAs and can use training camp to seek out the perfect strategies. While some teams will need to play it protected, many will try to achieve a bonus.

Teams know the brand new rules can open up a world of strategy. Special teams coaches will proceed to work on this throughout the season, but one thing is needless to say: everyone continues to be learning. After the OTAs, teams will know more, however the means of experimentation and gathering information continues.

“The team that gets it right on kickoff and kickoff return is going to shine early,” Toub said in May. “We want to be that team.”

The Chiefs value outside-the-box pondering under head coach Andy Reid, which is why it was interesting that they signed Rees-Zammit. Toub said they tried Rees-Zammit as a kicker-returner.

The recent kickoff format requires a unique form of returner. Returners have typically been small, agile and good in open space. Now that every one members of the coverage unit are in line, more running backs will return the ball. New returners must give you the chance to get forward, break arm tackles and get through the primary level identical to they might when running through a scrimmage. And for the reason that NFL allows two returners as an alternative of 1 just like the XFL, the returner who doesn't get the ball have to be a great blocker.

The signing of Rees-Zammit got me fascinated by whether a rugby strategy could possibly be applied to the brand new kickoff return. I reached out to some rugby coaches and an NFL special teams coordinator to see if a few of these ideas were feasible. I spoke to Golden State Retrievers head coach Kelly Griffin, former US national rugby team head coach Gary Gold and former England rugby star Mike Tindall.

The recent kickoff format gives the returner more room, because the kickoff team cannot start until the ball is caught or touches the bottom. This initially gives a buffer for some creative actions with the returners.

An interesting idea was using a so-called switch.

😍 Not a lot better than when a classic Switch play works!pic.twitter.com/8EtuOuuE8k

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) January 11, 2024

Griffin designed a play where the receiving team would release an inside guard, have the receiving player pull him in a single direction, after which make the switch. It was meant to resemble a hook-and-ladder play in football.

Drew Jordan

The XFL's first touchdown return was essentially a changeup, but leaving a coverage player unblocked like in Griffin's design permits you to get double coverage at the purpose of attack or a blocker on the kicker. Plus, this could possibly be easier to execute with a second returner, as they might be closer to the returner catching the ball and perhaps even get in position for an option-style pitch.

One NFL special teams coach I spoke with thought that recaps would turn into way more common.

“I like retrospectives because they're very low-risk,” he said. “I have a feeling there will be more retrospectives this year than in the last 20 years combined.”

It's time for the 𝕎𝕖𝕖𝕚𝕟 𝟙𝟚 ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕖𝕖𝕜.

We offer you @UMichFootball'S @mikebarrett_MB1-To-@AJHenning3 Trick play, kick return, TD. 💥

📍 @OldTrapper pic.twitter.com/91rqNCfqgm

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) 21 November 2021

The returners have more distance to get better if a throwback execution fails, however the blockers up front have a more chaotic job because once the coverage team starts, there are only about 5 yards between them. There isn't much time to play twists and switch releases.

“Every practice we learn something new,” Toub said. “I design a game and it looks great on paper – and then you can't execute it. You can't get to certain blocks that you think you can get to, so you throw it away. And then you move on to the next one.”

One coach compared attempting to block the coverage team to attempting to cover receivers within the lower red zone, where teams play quite a lot of man coverage and want techniques or systems to pass switch releases.

Blocking up front will probably be crucial as to whether teams can get creative on the back. Still, the thought of ​​leaving a person free for a possible lateral or option throw is interesting if the returners can get into position and everybody else could be blocked properly.

On the positive side, teams have gotten a great amount of reps in practice, as players now must apply less pressure and canopy shorter distances on kickoffs. The special teams teams that find probably the most effective ways to kick, cover, block and return the ball may have an enormous advantage over teams that lag behind. The learning process will definitely extend throughout the season as well.

The athlete