The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Cordarrelle Patterson in response to the NFL changing the kickoff rules, but will they even last? The league’s proposal to radically overhaul the kickoff is only operational under a one-year trial basis, subject to further approval. So far, the early results from the first week of the preseason haven’t offered much enthusiasm for an enduring solution.
Even Patterson himself sounds unsure of the future of the play—and of the current state of the play itself. He has talked about having mixed feelings about it in the past, though now he actually gets to work it. Patterson only recently came off the Non-Football Injury List, missing most of training camp due to a hamstring injury.
“It’s different. It’s gonna be a lot different. Nobody is used to it [because] it never happened before in the NFL”, Patterson said earlier this week. “It’s out of my control. They’re gonna change it. I feel like they’re gonna change it again before it’s all said and done. I’ve just got to go out there and show up and just try to leave a mark everywhere I go”.
Under the new “dynamic kickoff”, the kicker still kicks from his own 35-yard line, but the coverage players are nowhere near him. They now line up on the receiving team’s 40, and they may not move until the returner fields the ball or it hits the ground. A touchback now takes the ball out to the 30 while not reaching the “landing zone” takes it to the 40. The landing zone is inside the receiving team’s 20-yard line. The receiving team must line up at least nine players in the set-up zone between the 30 and 35. A kick that lands inside the landing zone and goes out of the end zone moves to the 20.
On the whole, the dynamic kickoff has not offered much dynamism, with relatively few notable returns. The Steelers certainly lacked for them in their preseason opener, though perhaps Cordarrelle Patterson could have done something about that. That is, after all, why they are paying him $3 million per season.
Patterson’s comment is interesting, though, because he is not alone. Many people have speculated that the NFL could modify the rule even before the regular season. Even teams are worried about it, with Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton even suggesting a modification of the touchback. Pro Football Talk weighed in on the possibility of the league altering the play before Cordarrelle Patterson even gets a chance to return one.
The NFL made this rule change with good intentions, and we still need far more data than we currently have. The league’s goal wasn’t to produce a constant stream of touchdowns, after all. Really, the primary goal of the modifications was to make the play safer while actually being a play. Many fear, though, that teams will just choose to take the touchback if it only goes out to the 30. That is why Payton suggested the touchback should go out to the 35. Otherwise, Patterson could be out of a job if the new kickoff becomes the same as the old kickoff.
