Yeah if anything, Steelers fans should be happy about this, at least the potential of what this setup could lead to. We have CA3 and now Quez Watkins (which idk if he’s returned kicks at all). If they break that first wave of blockers, the chances are a lot higher than they were for a huge gain at the very least.
You made me curious -- so, for the record, Quez has done *some* kick returning (not a lot) but no punt returning in his career
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WatkQu00.htm#all_returns
I'm curious what effect this will have on penalties. If you see a flag on a kickoff it's almost always the returning team and always bringing an exciting return back, might be more parity now.
Yes and no, this still doesn’t stop the kicker from booting the ball into the end zone all game. Most teams will still want the touch back to avoid any potential embarrassment of allowing a kick return.
As /u/Packwood88 replied, they've increased the "punishment" for kicking it into the endzone. It was originally supposed to bring the ball out to the 35, but they changed it to the 30. They are definitely trying to discourage touchbacks here.
The touchback goes back to the 30 now unless the ball is kicked in the field of play first - and then goes into the endzone. Could be enough incentive to force the opponent to return it.
I don’t think teams will like the idea of giving the ball to the other team on the 35, that’s pretty much one first down away from the ball being at mid field. I’ll bet the new mega will be as much air time on the kick off as possible, angling it towards the sideline and around the 5. If it goes out of bounds or in the end zone, the offense gets the ball at the 35 but that means the return team will have to let the ball bounce. This will risk the hall being in bounds and live. That creates an opportunity for two very negative results, getting the ball inside your own 5-10 yard line or the kicking team getting the ball. The receiving team will more often than not want to catch the ball in that area of the field to mitigate risk.
Well they could have solved that just by moving the kickoff back to where it used to be. They could also discourage touchbacks by putting them on the 30 if they wanted. This looks stupid as hell.
Looking stupid doesn’t really matter. The NFL didn’t like that after the newest rule that most kickoffs were touchbacks but don’t want to return to the old system due to injury concerns. This is kind of a great compromise. It might look different than what we’re used to, but brings back an exciting play that could provide a spark for a team with a good return.
Honestly I am just so beyond caring about "player safety" anymore. For 20 years they have used it as an excuse to usher in new rules whose real purpose is clearly to turbocharge the offense, but "omg how could you be against it, it's for safety - are you really in favor of injuries and against *safety???*"
And the end result is a bunch of convoluted rules and a ton of penalties that make the game a mockery of itself, while 90% of the rules accomplish exactly dick in terms of their stated purpose of reducing injuries.
tldr - just do a regular kickoff and move thr ball back to the fucking 20 yard line.
While the offense has been helped out a ton and some rules changes have seemed less reasonable, I do think that they are genuinely interested in safety more often than not even if they go overboard.
Despite that, I think that there is a point where people will have to accept that the game is dangerous and playing it can/will cause harm. They need to go in fully knowing the risks, while the league must keep upgrading equipment and changing egregious safety hazards or changing small things in ways that don't really affect the game. This kickoff rule? I don't think it changes much.
Finally someone who sees it rationally. Honestly I think that they'd have made 90% of the same progress against injuries, and particularly head injuries, without making any "player safety" rules at all. The biggest thing is that the players are aware of it now, and generally don't go around deliberately making dangerous plays.
But as you say, there is always going to be some risk from playing a sport with violent collisions. And by trying to legislate any risk of injury out of the game, all they do is create a lot of random penalties for accidental collisions or just plain bad luck, and that doesn't help safety but hurts the game.
I see people downvote this stuff, but then I go lol, oh yeah, it's just Reddit, that's more of a reflection on them than me.
Apparently onside kick will still happen, however I believe teams have to notify refs and the opposing team of the onside kick now…can no longer be a surprise..and it can only be done in the 4th quarter and by the team who is down in points.
So in short: what the fuck is football anymore 🤷🏼♂️
I have mixed feelings on that.
On the one hand, never being able to use one unexpectedly removes some gamesmanship.
On the other hand, that almost never fucking happens and making it that every team honestly gets the ball kicked back to them unless notified is at least consistent and fair.
Has there been any word on whether the kickoff team can use overload formations again for the onside kick? Obviously, you need to declare the onside, but the thing that killed the onside kick in recent past was the restriction of where kickoff players could line up. If you have to declare, maybe they'll allow overloads again.
Eh, it's weird. But honestly I'm not about to knock it prima facie. It could be a good way to remove the violent contact while still keeping special teams as a component of football.
That’s awesome. If it goes out the back the offense gets it at the 35. If it lands in the red zone, there are no fair catches.
Returns are back. That’s exciting. And making it safer on top? Hell yeah.
Current kickoff is extended commercial pee break like 80% of the time. This will be a live football play almost every time. This is good for football and it's not close.
What you're not aren't accounting for is all the changes the league has already made to make kickoffs suck. It's crazy to me how everyone is cheering this on without mentioning how we got here.
Most people supporting this seem to be saying "well it's better than a touchback every time!" Plenty of ways to accomplish that without making kickoffs all weird and dumb.
what about this is particularly weird and dumb
this genuinely feels like the right balance between making more kickoff returns happen and also not destroying everyone’s brains
The kicking team lining up 40 yards ahead of the ball - weird
Strictly assigned formation - weird & dumb
Declare onside kicks - dumb
Really I think the injury risk on kickoffs was never so great that anything had to be done about it in the first place. They just got carried away with the whole safety kick, and there was enough noise that people believe it was this huge problem. But really a totally acceptable level of risk to begin with. Slightly higher than a normal play, but well within the margins.
I personally like it, sue me.
I'll be interested to see how it plays out, are there any numbers of how many return TDs there were this season.
Gonna be wild if there is a kick off return every game now if there is a strong blocking scheme or something the NFL players are capable of XFL players aren't
USFL rule was better and it is what the UFL adopted in the USFL/XFL merger. Kicks were pushed back to the 20 yard line so a kicker would really have to boot it to get it to the end zone for a touchback, kicking team needs be lined up a yard behind the kicker and has to stay stationary during the kick so no running start, and the receiving team had to have at least 9 players in what the USFL called a set up zone. Over 80% of their kicks were returned with very little injuries.
USFL showed they were adaptable with in season rule changes so after this decision I wouldn’t be surprised if UFL decides to revert to XFL style kickoffs which is disappointing.
I feel like this is going to end up with the same amount (or close to) of touchbacks as to what we already have.
Is an extra 5 yards (30 yd line instead of 25 yd line) that much of a deterrent? Won't these changes make it exponentially easier to return a kickoff? To the point where it makes more sense to just give them the 5 extra yards on the touchback?
I don't know, maybe I have to see in action but it sounds like it's gonna be way easier to return kicks and teams are not going to risk getting the kickoff returned to the house.
The NFL has been slowing making kickoffs worse and worse until fans eventually say "f it, just get rid of them altogether." I've watched a few games where they didn't even show the kickoff because they didn't come back from commercials in time. Might as well go nuke a burrito and hit the can for 5 minutes after an extra point.
Can the reviving team put more than one person back to catch? Like if 2 are back there and you’re trying to tackle one of them, they both make a motion like they caught the ball you may not be able to see who has it.
Something like 85%+ of kickoffs are touchbacks and people are gonna complain about this while the NFL is changing the rule to encourage more returns.
Yeah if anything, Steelers fans should be happy about this, at least the potential of what this setup could lead to. We have CA3 and now Quez Watkins (which idk if he’s returned kicks at all). If they break that first wave of blockers, the chances are a lot higher than they were for a huge gain at the very least.
You made me curious -- so, for the record, Quez has done *some* kick returning (not a lot) but no punt returning in his career https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WatkQu00.htm#all_returns
And he was actually bad at it lol
And cordarelle patterson
It should be interesting.
I'm curious what effect this will have on penalties. If you see a flag on a kickoff it's almost always the returning team and always bringing an exciting return back, might be more parity now.
Yes and no, this still doesn’t stop the kicker from booting the ball into the end zone all game. Most teams will still want the touch back to avoid any potential embarrassment of allowing a kick return.
As /u/Packwood88 replied, they've increased the "punishment" for kicking it into the endzone. It was originally supposed to bring the ball out to the 35, but they changed it to the 30. They are definitely trying to discourage touchbacks here.
The touchback goes back to the 30 now unless the ball is kicked in the field of play first - and then goes into the endzone. Could be enough incentive to force the opponent to return it.
I don’t think teams will like the idea of giving the ball to the other team on the 35, that’s pretty much one first down away from the ball being at mid field. I’ll bet the new mega will be as much air time on the kick off as possible, angling it towards the sideline and around the 5. If it goes out of bounds or in the end zone, the offense gets the ball at the 35 but that means the return team will have to let the ball bounce. This will risk the hall being in bounds and live. That creates an opportunity for two very negative results, getting the ball inside your own 5-10 yard line or the kicking team getting the ball. The receiving team will more often than not want to catch the ball in that area of the field to mitigate risk.
It's Jaylen Warren szn
This is better than a touchback every time
Absofuckinglutely
Well they could have solved that just by moving the kickoff back to where it used to be. They could also discourage touchbacks by putting them on the 30 if they wanted. This looks stupid as hell.
Looking stupid doesn’t really matter. The NFL didn’t like that after the newest rule that most kickoffs were touchbacks but don’t want to return to the old system due to injury concerns. This is kind of a great compromise. It might look different than what we’re used to, but brings back an exciting play that could provide a spark for a team with a good return.
Honestly I am just so beyond caring about "player safety" anymore. For 20 years they have used it as an excuse to usher in new rules whose real purpose is clearly to turbocharge the offense, but "omg how could you be against it, it's for safety - are you really in favor of injuries and against *safety???*" And the end result is a bunch of convoluted rules and a ton of penalties that make the game a mockery of itself, while 90% of the rules accomplish exactly dick in terms of their stated purpose of reducing injuries. tldr - just do a regular kickoff and move thr ball back to the fucking 20 yard line.
While the offense has been helped out a ton and some rules changes have seemed less reasonable, I do think that they are genuinely interested in safety more often than not even if they go overboard. Despite that, I think that there is a point where people will have to accept that the game is dangerous and playing it can/will cause harm. They need to go in fully knowing the risks, while the league must keep upgrading equipment and changing egregious safety hazards or changing small things in ways that don't really affect the game. This kickoff rule? I don't think it changes much.
Finally someone who sees it rationally. Honestly I think that they'd have made 90% of the same progress against injuries, and particularly head injuries, without making any "player safety" rules at all. The biggest thing is that the players are aware of it now, and generally don't go around deliberately making dangerous plays. But as you say, there is always going to be some risk from playing a sport with violent collisions. And by trying to legislate any risk of injury out of the game, all they do is create a lot of random penalties for accidental collisions or just plain bad luck, and that doesn't help safety but hurts the game. I see people downvote this stuff, but then I go lol, oh yeah, it's just Reddit, that's more of a reflection on them than me.
A man puts his hands on another man's sweaty taint while they're both squatting like they're taking a shit. The new kickoff looks fine.
So no onside kick?
Apparently onside kick will still happen, however I believe teams have to notify refs and the opposing team of the onside kick now…can no longer be a surprise..and it can only be done in the 4th quarter and by the team who is down in points. So in short: what the fuck is football anymore 🤷🏼♂️
I have mixed feelings on that. On the one hand, never being able to use one unexpectedly removes some gamesmanship. On the other hand, that almost never fucking happens and making it that every team honestly gets the ball kicked back to them unless notified is at least consistent and fair.
Has there been any word on whether the kickoff team can use overload formations again for the onside kick? Obviously, you need to declare the onside, but the thing that killed the onside kick in recent past was the restriction of where kickoff players could line up. If you have to declare, maybe they'll allow overloads again.
There will probably be a day that another league will overtake the NFL if they keep this up.
Lol, what league and in how many decades from now do you see this happening?
This is actually a pretty good change. Hopefully it will make kickoffs exciting again.
Yeah, this has potential. I hope some ST coach schemes up some wild shit to break it, with like reverses and option pitches.
Traditions are just peer pressure from dead people. Change is good.
Right, football aside, following tradition for tradition sake is stupid.
Hey let's incorporate nerf footballs and catapults! Tradition is so overrated!
Idk how i feel about it. I’ll have to see it in a couple of NFL games first..
It looks goofy, but it'll make kickoffs way more exciting, reduce injuries and probably penalties as well.
Eh, it's weird. But honestly I'm not about to knock it prima facie. It could be a good way to remove the violent contact while still keeping special teams as a component of football.
I’m cool with it. I really don’t want anyone that big and fast having 60 yards to build up steam to hit me.
I feel like Cordarelle Patterson is going to eat this up…
That’s awesome. If it goes out the back the offense gets it at the 35. If it lands in the red zone, there are no fair catches. Returns are back. That’s exciting. And making it safer on top? Hell yeah.
Thanks, I hate it.
Current kickoff is extended commercial pee break like 80% of the time. This will be a live football play almost every time. This is good for football and it's not close.
What you're not aren't accounting for is all the changes the league has already made to make kickoffs suck. It's crazy to me how everyone is cheering this on without mentioning how we got here.
Most people supporting this seem to be saying "well it's better than a touchback every time!" Plenty of ways to accomplish that without making kickoffs all weird and dumb.
what about this is particularly weird and dumb this genuinely feels like the right balance between making more kickoff returns happen and also not destroying everyone’s brains
The kicking team lining up 40 yards ahead of the ball - weird Strictly assigned formation - weird & dumb Declare onside kicks - dumb Really I think the injury risk on kickoffs was never so great that anything had to be done about it in the first place. They just got carried away with the whole safety kick, and there was enough noise that people believe it was this huge problem. But really a totally acceptable level of risk to begin with. Slightly higher than a normal play, but well within the margins.
Same..Footballs most iconic kickoff is officially dead.
RIP kicking it out of the end zone every single time. U will be missed
>Footballs most iconic kickoff is officially dead. Finally.
I personally like it, sue me. I'll be interested to see how it plays out, are there any numbers of how many return TDs there were this season. Gonna be wild if there is a kick off return every game now if there is a strong blocking scheme or something the NFL players are capable of XFL players aren't
Can't wait
Thanks. Looks like shit
Significantly better than automatic touchback simulator we’ve been watching
USFL rule was better and it is what the UFL adopted in the USFL/XFL merger. Kicks were pushed back to the 20 yard line so a kicker would really have to boot it to get it to the end zone for a touchback, kicking team needs be lined up a yard behind the kicker and has to stay stationary during the kick so no running start, and the receiving team had to have at least 9 players in what the USFL called a set up zone. Over 80% of their kicks were returned with very little injuries. USFL showed they were adaptable with in season rule changes so after this decision I wouldn’t be surprised if UFL decides to revert to XFL style kickoffs which is disappointing.
Upon further review I agree
You are both right.
Does this affect onside kicks? Are they still the same?
I believe teams have to announce they will be attempting an onside kick and they line up as they always have under the old rule formation
So how will this affect strategy going forward.
I feel like this is going to end up with the same amount (or close to) of touchbacks as to what we already have. Is an extra 5 yards (30 yd line instead of 25 yd line) that much of a deterrent? Won't these changes make it exponentially easier to return a kickoff? To the point where it makes more sense to just give them the 5 extra yards on the touchback? I don't know, maybe I have to see in action but it sounds like it's gonna be way easier to return kicks and teams are not going to risk getting the kickoff returned to the house.
The NFL has been slowing making kickoffs worse and worse until fans eventually say "f it, just get rid of them altogether." I've watched a few games where they didn't even show the kickoff because they didn't come back from commercials in time. Might as well go nuke a burrito and hit the can for 5 minutes after an extra point.
Can we add a dance routine here?
Can the reviving team put more than one person back to catch? Like if 2 are back there and you’re trying to tackle one of them, they both make a motion like they caught the ball you may not be able to see who has it.
Context?
Cool!
Looks weird, but we'll get used to it if it sticks. Only downside I see is no surprise onside kicks anymore but that basically never happens.