Rules for NFL 2024 kickoff could cause excitement and chaos: ‘It’s going to be a show’

The NFL’s new kickoff rules are expected to revive one of the most exciting plays in the game while reducing the risk of injuries with fewer high-speed collisions. The plan is for the XFL-style lineup to open up opportunities for returning men.

Unless that’s not the case.

One factor that could limit what return teams do is that the NFL allows the coverage unit to begin its pursuit when the ball hits the ground or when the returner touches the ball (as in the XFL). The XFL had too many false starts and misjudgments of when the ball was in possession. The coverage team tried to time the start when the returner picked up the ball, but it often jumped early, disrupting the flow of the game.

“The rules basically encourage you to throw the… strangest, most best kicks you can throw,” an NFL special teams coach told The Athletic. “Any ball that can hit the ground is now an artificial hangtime. And so the rules encourage variations on firecrackers and wild kicks. And it will show like this.’

Part of the reason for the big kickoff changes was to make the game a spectacle again, but if teams can consistently put the ball on the ground and ruin the game, the league may consider changing this rule . In practice, teams have discovered that when the ball hits the ground, it is almost impossible to block anyone.

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 have to be high quality, and a bad kick that lands in the right zone can create this artificial hangtime.

(Drew Jordan / Athletics)

The other reason is that kickers are more involved in tackles. Longtime Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub estimated that XFL kickers were involved in 25 to 40 percent of kickoff tackles – even if they didn’t make the tackles themselves, they had to do their part to help the kickoff returner to change direction. Considering how valuable a good kicker is, special teams coaches may want to steer clear of them.

There was some creativity among the return teams in the XFL, but the majority were vanilla and there weren’t many big returns. Adding a second returner and having better quality players to work with could open up the opportunity for more creativity. But there is a chance that once the new rules are applied, there will no longer be much willingness to deviate from the regular returns. Special teams coaches are inherently conservative because their units’ blunders are often magnified.

Despite the potential for the new rules to be a dud, there is still plenty to be optimistic about as coaches used OTAs and will use training camps to find the best strategies. While some teams may want to play it safe, many will try to find advantages.

Teams know the new rules can open up a world of strategy. The special teams coaches will continue to work on it all season, but one thing is for sure: everyone is still learning. After OTAs, teams know more, but the process of experimenting and gathering information continues.

“The team that can make the kickoff and the return will excel early,” Toub said in May. “We want to be that team.”

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The Chiefs are embracing outside-the-box thinking 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 And returner.

The new kickoff format calls for a different type of returner. Returners tended to be small, shifty and good in open space. With every member of the coverage unit aligned, more running body types will return the ball. New players will need to be able to get on the field, break arm tackles, and get through the first level just like they would when running through an offensive line. Since the NFL allows two returners instead of one like the XFL did, the returner who doesn’t get the ball must be a good blocker.

The signing of Rees-Zammit got me thinking about whether a rugby strategy could be applied to the new kick-off. I reached out to some rugby coaches and an NFL special teams coordinator to see if some of these ideas are feasible. I spoke with Golden State Retrievers head coach Kelly Griffin, former US national rugby team head coach Gary Gold and former England rugby star Mike Tindall.

The new kickoff format gives the returner more space because the kickoff team cannot start until the ball is caught or hits the ground. So there is initially a buffer for some creative actions with the returners.

An interesting idea that emerged was the use of a so-called switch.

😍 Not much better than when a classic substitution takes place!pic.twitter.com/8EtuOuuE8k

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) January 11, 2024

Griffin set up a play where the return team unblocked one of the inside coverage team players, had the returner pull him in one direction, and then made the switch. It would be like a hook-and-ladder game in football.

(Drew Jordan / Athletics)

The first XFL touchdown return was essentially a switch, but if you leave one coverage player unblocked, as in Griffin’s design, you can get a double team at the point of attack or a blocker on the kicker. This could also be easier to perform with a second player, as he would be closer to the player catching the ball and perhaps even be able to get into position for an option-style throw.

One NFL special teams coach I spoke with thought throwbacks would become much more common.

“I like throwbacks because they are very low risk,” he said. “So I have a feeling you’ll see more throwbacks this year than the last 20 years combined.”

It’s time to get started.

We give you @UMichFootball‘S @mikebarrett_MB1-Unpleasant-@AJHenning3 trick play kick return TD. 💥

📍 @OudeTrapper pic.twitter.com/91rqNCfqgm

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 21, 2021

There will be more distance for the returners to recover if a botched execution occurs on a throwback, but the blockers up front will have more chaotic duties because once the coverage team starts, there is only about 5 yards between them. There isn’t much time to pass on twists and switch releases.

“Every time we practice, we learn something new,” Toub said. “I make a play and it looks great on paper – and you can’t do it. You can’t reach certain blocks that you think you can reach, so you throw them away. And it’s (on to) the next thing.”

One coach likened trying to block the coverage team to trying to cover receivers in the low red zone, where teams play a lot of man play and must have techniques or systems in place to relay switch releases.

The blocking up front will be critical to whether teams can be creative at the back. Still, the idea of ​​leaving one guy open for a potential lateral or option throw is interesting if the returners can get into position and everyone else can be reasonably blocked.

On the plus side, teams have been getting a good number of reps in practice due to the low impact and shorter distance players now have to run at kick-off. The special teams that figure out the most effective ways to kick, cover, block and return the ball will have major advantages over teams that fall behind. The learning process will certainly continue during the season.

(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletics; Photos: Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection and Justin Tafoya/Getty Images)