NFL continuing to fine-tune kickoff rules

During a four-hour meeting Sunday, the NFL’s competition committee discussed both the proposed ban on the hip-drop tackle and the “hybrid” kickoff proposal. While support from the competition committee was unanimous in both cases, according to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, some tweaks were made to the kickoff proposal.

In our initial review, we noted the rules regarding what happens when a football lands in a certain area. To reiterate, kicks that hit the landing zone must be returned; if the kick hits the landing zone and rolls into the end zone, it can be returned or downed for a touchback to the 20-yard line; kicks that are downed in the end zone, strike the goal post/uprights/cross bar or go through the end zone would be placed at the 35-yard line, and; kicks that land short of the landing zone or out of bounds result in the ball being placed 25 yards from the kickoff starting point, which with no penalties applied is the 35-yard line resulting in placement at the 40-yard line for such kicks. We also laid out the rules for onside kicks in our prior breakdown.

The tweak we’re seeing to the proposal concerns kicks that are downed in the end zone, strike the goal post/uprights/cross bar or go through the end zone. Instead of being placed at the 35-yard line, the new rule would place it at the receiving team’s 30-yard line.

It’s a delicate balance in finding what will actually result in more returns without compromising player safety. By making this change, there is slightly less incentive for a returner catching a ball in the end zone to down it there, since they’d get five less yards than the initial plan, but they’re still likely to take a knee, considering the alternative is to try and hoof it past the 30-yard line in order to achieve a net gain. On the kickoff side, with the 35-yard line rule, kickers were highly discouraged from kicking it past the landing zone and giving the return team great field position. Changing it to the 30-yard line is not as penalizing, so kickers are less discouraged from forcing the opposing team to drive 70 yards as opposed to just 65.

The initial media feedback is that the tweak to the proposal will have the opposite effect from what the NFL intends, as the league strives to keep the return game relevant. A vote is expected to take place Monday. The media opinion is that the vote will either be approved or the decision will be delayed until May. Check back Monday for a potential update on the result of the vote.