The Pittsburgh Steelers have been among the most aggressive teams attempting to prepare for the new kickoff rules. Just hours after the new rules were approved, they signed Cordarrelle Patterson as their return specialist. But is there a step too far even for head coach Mike Tomlin and special teams coordinator Danny Smith?
While Smith reportedly half-joked about using QB Justin Fields as a potential return option, other teams are exploring serious radical departures from the NFL norm. Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub laid out that they are looking into using non-kickers to kick off.
The reasoning is simple enough: the skill set required to deliver the new kickoff is different. And it’s now much more beneficial to have that 11th player on the coverage unit as a strong tackler. No kicker in NFL history ever fit that particular criterion.
“Kickers are involved in probably at least 25 to 40 percent of the tackles”, Toub said, based on the XFL. “ Either trying to make a guy bounce back or making the tackle himself, or just missing a tackle”. He went on to explain that he doesn’t want his placekicker in that situation all the time.
Other than the kicker, the coverage players now line up close to the return unit, and they can’t move forward until the ball is fielded. As such, as Toub pointed out, that makes things like hangtime irrelevant. And the close-quarters nature of the play emphasizes the critical factor of spacing and tackling. You miss a tackle and you’re looking at a potential homerun touchdown with much greater frequency.
Of course, even if you don’t use a traditional kicker, you still need a player who can kick accurately. If you kick the ball out of bounds or outside of the landing zone, you’re still subject to a penalty. The opposing team gets the ball at the 40-yard line. Touchbacks now set the ball at the 30-yard line, reducing the desirability of botting the ball out of the endzone.
The Steelers have one of the best placekickers in the game in Chris Boswell, but they may want to consider this. After all, Boswell has dealt with some lingering injuries in recent years that have caused him to miss games. Asking him to make a few tackles per season—or attempt to do so—only increases the injury risk. And perhaps teams will take advantage of more opportunities to put a hit on a kicker for that reason.
It may take years to fully flesh out the impact of the rule change. Non-placekickers may begin earning roster spots because of their ability to execute the new kickoff, for example. Because they are also active coverage players, they are not just adding an additional specialist position.
But do the Steelers have anybody who could potentially fulfill that kicking duty? Because he lines up further back, you also want someone with speed and endurance. We’ll probably see a lot of different approaches throughout the season as teams try to figure out what works. It’s one of the more interesting evolutions of the game in some time, so I’m looking forward to observing it.
