NFL owners on Wednesday approved a rule change proposal that will move touchbacks up five yards, with teams now starting at their own 25-yard line as opposed to 20-yard line on kickoffs that are downed in the end zone or sail through the back of it. The goal is to encourage players to take a knee and avoid injuries, but could it backfire?
If the rule makes a touchback more appealing to the receiving team, that means it becomes less appealing to the kicking team. Whereas NFL kickers were content to try and boot the ball as deep into the end zone as they could before, the strategy could change now that touchbacks give the receiving team five extra yards of field position.
Earlier this month, two veteran special teams coordinators told Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune that placing the ball at the 25-yard line for touchbacks will inspire teams to try more “mortar” kickoffs, which aim to boot the ball higher in the air for shorter distances.
“Return teams are looking for reasons to come out (of the end zone),” one coordinator told Biggs. “And kickoff teams are going to hit the ball to the goal line and hope to tackle the returner inside the 20. You watch, they’re going to get more returns this season because you don’t want to give anyone the ball at the 25.”
Another coordinator said NFL owners are going to get the “reverse of what they want,” which is less returns and less dangerous collisions.
That is certainly a concern. NFL kickers are very good at what they do, so there’s no reason to think they can’t perfect the art of kicking the ball to the 1-yard line instead of trying to get it through the back of the end zone.
If the new rule change leads to more kick returns, the next step could be what Bill Belichick suggested several years back.
H/T Deadspin
