The NFL’s new dynamic kickoff receiving goals in the preseason raises the return rate and the threat of big plays after years of increasing touchbacks.
What will happen in the regular season, when coaches may be more concerned with avoiding risk than testing new rules, remains an open question.
The average starting position over the second full weekend of the exhibition game is 28.3 meters line, according to the NFL, up 4.4 meters from this point last season.
That has led to some talk that teams might opt ​​to punt deep in the end zone once the regular season begins, trading kickoffs after touchbacks at the 30-yard line to reduce the risk of giving up more.
The NFL does not expect to move the touchback point to 35 – the original point proposed by the competition committee – from the 30 that owners approved with a one-year trial in March.
“Impossible,” Dawn Aponte, the NFL’s chief administrative officer of football, said Monday. “The way we go through this and discuss it with the competition committee as well as the membership in general is about continuing to evaluate. This is a one-year rule change, so we hope to evaluate this throughout the season.”
There were a few minor tweaks added this summer as officials and teams talked about the rules, including allowing the kicking team to have a 12th man on the field as a holder if the ball falls off the tee twice. The player will be required to leave the field immediately after the kick.
Aponte said there are some other adjustments being made before the season but doesn’t expect any changes when the season starts on Sept. 5.
“I think our goal is always to have rules going into this season,” he said. “I never said that. Someone higher than my salary can decide. But that’s the goal.”
NFL executive Jeff Miller said 78% of kicks have been returned this preseason, up from 63% at this time a year ago. There were 11 returns past the 40-yard line — nearly double last year’s rate.
The league approved the change after the kickoff return rate fell to an all-time low of 22% last season and all 13 kicks in the Super Bowl went for touchbacks. Kickoffs have become a dangerous play with a concussion rate about four times that of a scrimmage play and an overall injury rate about twice that, according to Miller.
The new rule that at least 19 of the 22 players are grouped within 10 meters at the start of the kick will reduce the high-speed collisions that cause so many injuries.
Dr. Allen Sills, NFL’s chief medical officer, said it is too early to determine the impact of the new rules on injuries.
The NFL is encouraged by the number of players using new helmets that have been shown in tests to reduce concussion rates. The league has now approved eight position-specific helmets, with Miller estimating that about 200 of the roughly 2,900 players in training camp are using them.
Players who use these helmets do not need to wear soft-shell helmet covers known as Guardian Caps in practice, which are required for every position except kicker, punter and quarterback.
“Change is hard,” Sills said. “We’re all used to things that we like, but I think that the players have a lot of confidence in the tests that the league and the union have done on this helmet, and the fact that they’ve been willing to explore this new model is reflective.”
The NFL estimated a 50% reduction in concussions among position groups using Guardian Caps two preseasons ago, but Miller said the new helmet is as good or better than the Guardian Cap on top of the old-style helmet.
Players can now wear Guardian Caps in games and there were six players who did in the first weekend of preseason games and five last weekend.
The NFL has tweaked its training camp rules in recent years in hopes of reducing lower-body injuries that often plague teams.
The league has started training camp to facilitate the players. Sills said there was a 29% decrease in time missed for lower extremity strains during the 2023 training camp compared to 2021. There was also a 50% decrease in recurring training camp strains during the regular season.
It’s too early to have numbers from this year but Sills said it remains a high priority with NFL players missing more time due to hamstring injuries than other ailments.
While the 2024 Olympics are over, attention is now on 2028, when flag football will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles Games.
That has piqued the interest of several NFL players. Miller said the league and the NFLPA are in talks about players under contract with participating NFL teams. The 2028 Olympics are set to be held from July 14-30 and could be the traditional start of NFL training camp in late July.
“Obviously, the hope is that players who want to go to the Olympics and represent their country have that opportunity,” Miller said. “There is no final answer, but something is actively being done.”
