'Dynamic Kickoff' Makes NFL Debut

• The ball is still kicked from the 35-yard line (No change)
• Safety kicks will be from the 20-yard line (No change)
• All kicking team players other than the kicker will line up with one foot on the receiving team’s 40-yard line
• The kicker cannot cross the 50-yard line until the ball touches the ground or the player is in the landing zone or end zone
• The 10 kicking team players cannot move until the ball hits the ground or a player in the landing zone or the end zone
• The receiving team will line up as follows:
  • Setup Zone – a 5-yard area from the 35 to the 30-yard line where at least 9 receiving team players must line up
    • At least 7 players with a foot on the 35-yard line (restraining line) with alignment requirements (outside numbers, numbers to hashes, and inside hashes)
    • Players not on the restraining line must be lined up in the setup zone outside the hash marks
    • All players in the setup zone cannot move until the kick has hit the ground, or a player in the landing zone or the end zone
  • A maximum of 2 returners may line up in the landing zone and can move at any time prior to or during the kick

LANDING ZONE

• The landing zone is the area between the receiving team’s goal line and its 20-yard line.
• Any kick that hits short of the landing zone is treated like a kickoff out of bounds, and the ball is spotted at the receiving team's 40-yard line; the play would be blown dead as soon as the kick lands short of the landing zone
• Any kick that hits in the landing zone must be returned
• Any kick that hits in the landing zone and then goes into the end zone must be returned or downed by the receiving team; if downed, then touchback to the 20-yard line
• Kick hits in the end zone, stays inbounds - returned or downed – if downed, then touchback to the 30-yard line
• Any kick that goes out of the back of the end zone (in the air or bounces) – touchback to 30-yard line

MISCELLANEOUS

• Onside kick:
  • 4th quarter begins, and the team trailing has the opportunity to declare an onside kick to the officials
  • Current onside kickoff rules would apply. If an onside kick goes beyond the setup zone untouched, the kicking team is penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct; the return team would start the drive at the kicking team's 20-yard line
• Penalties:
  • The setup zone and landing zone will not change with any penalties that carry over to kickoffs. Alignment of 10 kickoff team players and all receiving team players would not change – only the spot of the kick would move
  • Penalties on scoring plays will not carry over and will be taken on the Try
  • Penalties on the Try may carry over, and if they do, only the placement of the kicker will change
• Safety Kick:
  • The kick will be from the 20-yard line, and the kicker will have the option to use a tee; the setup zone and the landing zone will not change

Seems confusing, right? For those who do not understand how it will look will have plenty of future examples to live by, because this new rule isn't going anywhere — at least for this season. The XFL adopted these kickoff rules first during the shortened 2020 season and kept the new implementation through the first two seasons of the UFL.

Dangerous kick returners may be relegated to the annals of history for now, as the clogged mess that was the kickoffs last night did not seem to provide the needed reads and lanes for guys like the great Devin Hester to run through. This is likely to change as teams adapt to the new rules, but almost completely eliminating one of the most difficult plays in sports that have the potential for so much excitement does not seem like the way to go. 

There are several examples of this kickoff system working in the UFL. If blocked correctly, the disadvantage to the kicking team is evident. Everyone is completely spread out, and that returner needs all of one lane to blow the coverage open. Prior to the rule change, levels existed to kick coverage; now, that is not allowed to happen. 

NFL owners decided to implement this rule change in March earlier this year in the name of "player safety." While the new rules are indeed "safer," fans' frustration is evident. Many took to X last night to express their displeasure with the change.

Others say that this new change forces more kickoff returns to happen, and that's a good thing. Over the past decade, since the NFL moved the kickoff to the 35-yard lineup from the 30, most kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. This is the NFL's solution to that problem. In most fans' opinion, however, just move the ball back to the 30, and the problem is solved. With that being said, Hester himself said that the new rules have the potential to revitalize the kick-returning game. 

Coupled with the new onside kick rules recently announced, it seems like the continuing trend of making the most violent sport in the United States more like pattycake daycare time is here to stay. Despite the fact that the majority of fans disagree with the direction the NFL is headed, we will all still watch anyway.