How the NFL's new kickoff rules could change football

We are less than two months removed from the 2024 Super Bowl, but the National Football League is already looking toward the future. It is implementing a new rule change for the 2024-2025 season, one that could drastically change the way the game of football is started. 

On March 26, NFL owners approved a new rule that will revamp the way kickoffs are handled. This will make NFL kickoffs — the play during which a drive is started — more closely resemble kickoffs seen in the XFL, a minor football league that has since been folded into another league, the UFL.

The kickoff change was approved for a one-year trial period but has the potential to continue beyond that if deemed a success. While changing the NFL's kickoff rules may not sound like a big deal to some, many sports experts have said it marks one of the biggest alterations to football in years.  

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What does the rule change entail?

The change has to do with where players will position themselves prior to the kickoff. Like before, the kicking team's kicker "will continue to kick from the 35-yard line," NPR said. But "rather than be flanked by his teammates, the rest of the kicking team will line up at their opponent's 40-yard line." This eliminates the running head-start typically seen during kickoffs. 

Meanwhile, the returning team "will field up to two returners in the backfield, and the rest of the team will line up in a new 'set-up zone' between the 30- and 35-yard line," said NPR. Only the kicker and returners will be allowed to move "until a returner touches the ball or the ball hits the ground." This thereby eliminates the "fair catch" rule, as "any kick that is caught or lands in the landing zone must be returned, while any kick that falls short of the landing zone will be ruled a touchback," said CNN.

The other major change involves onside kicks, where a team tries to maintain possession of the ball by kicking it to their own players. Teams "occasionally opted to take their opponents by surprise by attempting an onside kick earlier in the game," said NPR, but "that option is now gone, as teams must announce an onside kick attempt in advance." 

Why is this change being implemented?

As part of an effort to minimize concussions, the NFL "over the past 15 seasons has implemented rule changes designed to reduce returns," — and this change is the latest in those efforts, said ESPN. ESPN also noted that the league has previously "moved the kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, outlawed wedge and double-team blocks, and in 2023 created a rule that allowed a fair catch to be spotted at the 25-yard line."

There is evidence that these changes have, in part, cut down on injuries. Over the past 15 years of changes, touchbacks "dramatically increased over that period, and the return rate fell to a league-record 21.7% in 2023," ESPN said. The "number of concussions dropped as well, but only in parallel with the decrease in returns." The rate of concussions per kickoff, however, has not seen a significant change. 

Notably, these prior measures "reduced injuries by decreasing the number of kicks returned, but the league didn't address the root cause of the injury," The Athletic said. The NFL is hoping that its new kickoff rule will "eliminate the running start players had on traditional kickoffs that led to huge collisions, concussions and other injuries."  

The change marks perhaps the most radical effort yet from the NFL to "alter the kickoff to try to increase player safety without eliminating the play altogether," CBS News said. 

The thing that has "people spooked about it is the unknown, but that's what excites me," Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said to USA Today. NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay expressed similar sentiments to The Associated Press, saying there was "a little fear of the unknown."

"I think the optics are definitely the most drastic [rule change] we've seen," McKay said. "The thing that gives us all the comfort is we have the tape, we've seen it. We can show you the plays and you can see how this can play out." He also noted there was a sense of "urgency to vote on this rule" before the upcoming draft, as it could impact the way teams structure their rosters.