UPDATE: This article was originally published on Saturday outlining the proposal. It has reportedly been passed by the NFL owners with one slight adjustment to the spotting of the ball on a touchback that lands in the end zone which is noted below.

As the NFL offseason rolls on through March, another item on the calendar which is just days away is the annual league meeting for owners from March 24-27 in Orlando, Florida. While there will be a number of things discussed, the proposed rule changes for the upcoming season that were presented by the NFL’s competition committee will likely drive the news cycle. Items such as banning the “hip drop tackle “and potentially changing the trading deadline are interesting topics, but another proposal change deals with a complete overhaul to how the NFL handles kickoffs.

It’s common knowledge the NFL has been struggling with how to handle kickoffs in recent years. With a continual push towards player safety, kickoffs are a play which creates a disproportional amount of injuries. In an attempt to make the play safer, the NFL greatly reduced the impact of kickoffs within games where this past season saw kick returns became a very rare thing. Looking strictly at the Super Bowl, every kickoff traveled into the end zone for a touchback with no attempted returns.

So how can the NFL still keep the play alive and relevant?

On Friday, the NFL Football Operations X account shared a video to explain the proposal to change kickoffs. For those who cannot view the video or would like further explanation, we will dive into that here. At the end of this article, the video is available for viewing.

One thing which should be noted about the proposed rule change, it would only be for one season and would be reevaluated at that point.

In the proposal, the kickoff would still occur from a teams own 35-yard line. But instead of the other 10 players on the kicking team lining up at that spot to run down the field, they would instead line up on the opponents 40-yard line. As for the receiving team, they must have at least nine players between their on 30-yard line and 35-yard line. As for the other two members of the receiving team, they can lineup anywhere in order to field the kick.

One significant thing to remember is that there will no longer be the option of a fair catch.

Unlike the NFL‘s current kickoff where players can move once the ball is kicked, in the proposal has where players can only move once the ball is touched by the receiving team or hits the ground.

The new proposal puts more on the skill of the kicker than what may have previously been the case. Just like the previous rule, if the ball goes out of bounds the receiving team gets possession at their own 40-yard line. With the new rule, a kickoff which lands short of the 20-yard line is treated just like a kick out of bounds. Additionally, any kickoff that lands in the end zone and is downed for a touchback would be spotted at the receiving team’s 35-yard line, an increase of 10 yards from where a touchback occurred in previous seasons.

When the ball is kicked, if it lands or is caught between the 20 yard line in the end zone, it must be returned. The only exception is if the ball lands in the field of play and travels into the end zone it can be downed. But in this case, instead of coming to the 35-yard line it only comes to the 20 yard line.

It should also be noted that if there is a penalty enforced on the kickoff, the zones were players lineup and where the ball must land does not change, only the spot of the kick.

One thing many fans may be curious about is the potential to have an onside kick. With this proposed rule, a team can designate they are attempting onside kick but they can only do so in the fourth quarter.

To summarize, there are four different places the ball could be spotted in the new proposed rule:

• The 40-yard line: when the kick goes out of bounds or lands short of the 20-yard line.
• The 35-yard line: when the kick lands or is caught in the air in the end zone (UPDATE: The spot after a kick that lands in the end zone was adjusted to be the 30-yard line).
• The 20-yard line: when a kick lands short of the end zone, travels into the end zone, and then is downed.
• At the end spot of the return: when the kick is returned and the play is over.

So how could this proposed rule change affect the strategy of the kickoff?

As stated before, a lot of kickoffs will come down to the skill of the kicker. Even if the kickoff spot is changed forward or backwards as much as 15 yards due to a penalty, the kicker must adapt and have the ball land between the 20-yard line and the goal line. A penalty on the kickoff may not have much of an impact on the game as they should still be fielding the kick off from the same area as long as the kicker can still get it there. If the penalty is on the receiving team, it could possibly be more of a detriment to the kicking team if their kicker can’t land the ball short of the end zone being from a shorter distance. Perhaps the NFL will consider having the option of a penalty being enforced after the kickoff.

Another thing the NFL will have to make sure they do is specifically outline the rules for attempting onside kick. Is the receiving team now allowed to fair catch the kick? This is an important question because the ability to fair catch a kickoff is what has kept kicking teams from simply trying to pop the ball high in the air 10 yards down the field and create a jump ball situation. Because the receiving team could simply call for a fair catch, it forced onside kick attempts to have the ball kicked into the ground.

Whether or not this proposal passes and is implemented for 2024 remains to be seen. With the kickoff becoming so insignificant recently, I don’t blame the competition committee for putting forth a proposal that tries to keep it in the game. If the owners do decide to implement a rule change for the season, hopefully now there is a better understanding of how the procedure will work.

For those who wish to see the NFL video about the proposed kickoff rule, it can be seen here:

To address the lowest kickoff return rate in @NFL history during the 2023 season and concern for player health and safety, the NFL Competition Committee has proposed a new kickoff rule.

If adopted by NFL clubs, the new rule will keep the excitement of kickoff returns in the… pic.twitter.com/0ltQpSrAvC

— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) March 22, 2024