The NFL’s dramatic kickoff rule change has headlined the offseason. And once the preseason kicks off and we see the new-look play for the first time, it’ll garner all the more attention. No one knows the exact impacts of how the formational shifts, now pitting coverage and return teams 5-10 yards apart, and there will be a trial and error for all 32 teams this year.
We know things will be different. But in what ways? Let’s talk through what could happen over the next several months.
1. Linemen on kickoffs, coverage and return
It would be no shock to see linemen, defensive and offensive, get deployed on kickoffs this season. Defensive players on the coverage/tackling team will no longer be hurt by their lack of long speed to run 40 yards downfield. Now, their size and ability to defeat blocks, key for the kick coverage team, will be an asset. Don’t expect to see 300-pound run-stuffing nose tackles out there, but the bigger athletic defensive linemen? Count on it.
In past years, there has been the occasional Steeler to do it. Brett Keisel cut his teeth there before becoming a starting end. Henry Mondeaux got a couple of reps there during his time with the the team. I can definitely see someone like DeMarvin Leal used there in the preseason as he tries to revive his career and stand out in a muddied defensive line room. What about Montravius Adams? In August, I wouldn’t rule out giving him a look.
On the other side? If kick returns are to be thought of as a run play, then it’s only logical offensive lineman will be part of that, right? Again, only the agile ones who can move in space, but the league – and the Steelers – are shifting towards stockpiling them. Before, the idea of an offensive lineman out there in that kind of space was an impossibility. Now, with things condensed, it’s possible. Maybe a return is set to run right behind two of them. Maybe a team pulls someone around, just like a power/trap run, to gain an additional man. Backups Dylan Cook (a former college quarterback) and Anderson Hardy might see some action here. As could rookie Mason McCormick, who has plus foot speed and can pick off a poor safety trying to get in the way.
2. Live kick returns in camp
For as physical as Steelers’ training camps are, there’s something they (almost) never do. Live kick returns. Every team dedicates part of practice to special teams, rotating units and aspects day-by-day, and some of those reps are kick returns. But it’s more walk-through than simulation. Line everyone up, simulate the kickoff (usually an assistant throwing the ball; for Pittsburgh, this had been the now-departed Marcel Pastoor, who had a heck of an arm) while the returner fields it, sprints upfield past the first line, and then usually slows up around midfield. No one is permitted to touch him.
Now? Why not make it live? The issue before was the risk of injury given the full-speed nature of the coverage team, sprinting downfield to cover it. No need to get someone lit up and hurt in practice. But the NFL’s rule change was specifically done to reduce the distance, speed, and injury.
Given how infrequent kickoff returns can be in-game, even with this rule change, you’re not guaranteed many or any; it’d be wise for teams to practice live in camp. Begin adjusting to the change before carrying it out in-game. Given how radically different it is and how teams will tinker and play around with ideas, special teams coaches should want live looks. Will it happen all the time? Probably not. But I’d dedicate one day to it and see what the results are for all parties involved. Coverage team, blockers, and returners.
The only exception and reason for my “almost” qualifier above is the COVID year. With the 2020 preseason canceled, the Steelers ran at least one full-contact return. Reportedly, Ray-Ray McCloud returned that for a touchdown, cementing his spot on the 53-man roster. That was under extreme circumstances, but there is precedent. Let’s see if the Steelers do it again.
3. Hello, Trickeration
As one analyst said recently, kickoffs are finally a play again. Special teams coaches can strategize beyond “watch the ball sail over your head” or “call a fair catch at the 2 so it’s a touchback,” the latter a rule which is no more. Who knows what these guys are going to come up with? If you gotta be a little crazy to play special teams, you gotta be a little crazy to coach them, and the league is going to have fun testing things out. Especially in the summer when the stakes are lower.
Handoffs and reverses? Sure. Throws across the field? Possibly. Other concepts we’re not even thinking of? Bet on it. Maybe things aren’t weird all the time. No coach wants to be the one whose grand idea resulted in a laughable turnover. We’ve seen weird special teams’ ideas backfire and go viral for the wrong reasons. But each week, you’re going to see some team throw a dart at the board and hope they hit.
4. No true kicker?
Kickoffs without a kicker? It’s possible. The Kansas City Chiefs have already mused about the idea, using one OTA practice with safety Justin Reid and rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit in that role, giving them an extra true tackler instead of a “hope for the best” kicker.
Anyone with some sort of kicking background could have more value. Former soccer players, rugby stars like Rees-Zammit, and anyone messing around in their backyard during the offseason. Perhaps that can be a deciding factor for a roster spot, especially if the NFL expands the 53-man limit when they eventually expand to 18 regular season games. I still think this will be less impactful than theorized now. The value of a kicker putting the ball exactly where it’s supposed to go outweighs the loss of a potential tackler, but it’s something to think about.
5. Fewer Changes Than You Think
While everything I wrote above is plausible, ultimately, kickoffs could still have similar outcomes. They’ll undoubtedly look different, but touchbacks are still the most likely result. Even the special teams coordinators deeply involved in the rule change believe kickoffs will only be returned 40 percent of the time. Touchbacks will make up the other 59 percent (Gunner Olszewski fielding a kick out of bounds is the other one percent).
Will there be a bombardment of touchdowns? Many media members and even players think it’s coming. Simply because there will be more returns, there will be more touchdowns. However, the NFL is adopting this proposal from the XFL. In 2023, how many kick return touchdowns did the XFL have? Just one. As a league, they averaged only 21.3 yards per return, nearly two fewer yards than NFL teams did in 2023 (23.0 yards). And despite each team having at least 36 kick returns that year, more than any team in the NFL did in 2023, five of the eight teams didn’t have a kick return longer than 47 yards.
It’s still one heck of a coordinated act to get ten blockers to lock up ten coverage players, who all have vision on the ball, and create a lane for the return man to bust through. With two returners in the landing zone, the return team is working down a man up front, too. And *if* returners are seizing the day with consistently great runbacks, kickers will just start teeing off their kicks into the third row. They’ll take the touchback at the 30 as a fair tradeoff.
There will be excitement. There will be weird. There will be disaster. But there will also be much of the same. Kickoff, touchback, commercial, offense on the field.
