Can you believe football is back already? It's like we fast-forwarded through summer at lightning speed! The Hall of Fame game was last night, and we got ourselves a dose of the new kickoff format, which is, uhh, interesting, to say the least.
Let's give it a look while noting that the kicker stands at the kicking team's 35, while his teammates line up at the receiving team's 40 — the receiving team setting up behind their own 35 yardline. I know, it's strange; but check it out.
Yeah, I told you you weren't gonna like it.
Though it's true that the median touchback percentage during the 2023 season was around 76% (24% of kickoffs were actually played), I can see that you still have a problem with this new kickoff structure.
Let's take a look at the rules.
All kicking team players other than the kicker will line up with one foot on the receiving team's B40 yard line
Kicker cannot cross the 50-yard line until ball touches the ground or player in landing zone or end zone
The 10 kicking team players cannot move until the ball hits the ground or player in the landing zone or the end zone
The receiving team will line up as follows:
Setup Zone - a 5-yard area from the B35 to the B30 yard line where at least 9 receiving team players must line up
At least 7 players with foot on the B35 yard line (restraining line) with alignment requirements (outside numbers, numbers to hashes, and inside hashes)
Players not on the restraining line must be lined up in setup zone outside the hash marks
All players in the setup zone cannot move until the kick has hit the ground or a player in the landing zone or the end zone
A maximum of 2 returners may line up in the landing zone and can move at any time prior to, or during, the kick
And now for the onside kick rules (don't get too upset)
Yes, a team must be losing, it must be the fourth quarter, and they are required to alert the referee squad, along with their opponent, that they're going to try for the onside kick (where they try to recover the ball and get it back).
So, like it or lump it, this is the new NFL kickoff structure.
It might be wishful thinking, but I sure hope we get some entertaining and creative returns in 2024.
