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New kickoff rules adopted by the NFL last season are likely here to stay, with a few minor tweaks coming next week, and there is no momentum for doing away with onside kicks in favor of a fourth-and-long offensive play.
Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, said in a conference call Wednesday the topic of overhauling the onside kick garnered no support at the league's competition committee meetings this offseason.
"There was a sense of you earn everything, every snap is important and some consider, you heard this from time to time, (that proposal is) gimmicky, this is not (for the) National Football League," Vincent said. "So you got to earn that right to, you got to convert, play good D, play good offense, so it never came up this year. When it was, is anybody thinking about this in Indy, it was not open. The clubs weren’t open to proposing that fourth-and-17, that model that we’ve seen over the previous years."
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At the NFL's annual meeting last spring, the Philadelphia Eagles proposed allowing teams to try and convert a fourth-and-20 play after a score as a way to retain possession in lieu of an onside kick. The proposal was withdrawn before it was voted on.
Similar alternative onside kick proposals have been discussed previously, but Vincent said the success of the league's new kickoff rules in 2024 may have encouraged teams to "keep the tradition" of the onside kick.
After years of handwringing over regular kickoff plays, NFL owners adopted measures to make the play safer and encourage more returns last spring. Teams still kicked off from their own 35-yard line, but coverage units were not allowed running starts, touchbacks were moved from the 25- to the 30-yard line and a landing zone was instituted between the goal line and 20-yard line to force more returns.
NFL executives said Wednesday that 332 more kicks were returned last season than in 2023, with more touchdowns on kickoffs, more long returns and a lower injury rate that mimicked traditional plays from scrimmage. Scoring in the NFL ticked up last season, too, to 45.8 points per game, a result, officials said, of the change in drive start due to the kickoff rules.
Owners will vote at the league meetings next week to move touchbacks to the 35-yard line while making most of the other kickoff changes permanent. Rich McKay, co-chairman of the NFL's competition committee, said the expectation is returns would increase from around 33% last season to between 60-70% in 2025 with the new touchback rule.
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"(The change) creates about a 7-yard difference between the touchback line and what the average return was last year," McKay said. "We think that’s a lot of motivation for people to kick the ball in play and get returns back into the game, which we like now that we kind of know how that play works."
While the change in kickoff rules made recovering onside kicks more difficult last season — teams had to declare when they were going to attempt an onside kick, and could only do so in the fourth quarter — McKay said tweaks to the onside kick rule this year could bump recoveries from around 6% to 10-12%.
Under the new proposals, teams would still have to declare their intention to onside kick, but could do so at any point in a game and coverage players would be able to line up on the kick line, a yard closer than last year.
"There are plenty of people that argue about, 'Well, do we really want to give any advantage to the team that’s losing, to win the game?'" McKay said. "Do we want to just move that number from call it 6%, 7% or even 12%, to 25% for recovery, or getting the ball again?
"I would say there was no appetite for that. I would say most people want to see it move and move up to the 10 to 12% which it’s historically been in that range and I think the idea was, we just got to keep trying to work our way to get to that percentage ... We do think (the changes) give us an opportunity to move the number up. I think there’s just a lot of people that don’t want to move the number too far up as far as the recovery rate goes."
Along with the kickoff rules, owners will vote on expanding instant replay to allow replay assist to consult with on-field officials on an expanded menu of penalties, and for several team proposals including ones submitted by the Detroit Lions to change playoff seeding and eliminate an automatic first down as part of the penalty for defensive holding and illegal contact.
Dave Birkett is the author of the book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline."
Order your copy here.
Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: NFL won't consider 'gimmicky' onside kick alternatives
Continue reading...
Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, said in a conference call Wednesday the topic of overhauling the onside kick garnered no support at the league's competition committee meetings this offseason.
"There was a sense of you earn everything, every snap is important and some consider, you heard this from time to time, (that proposal is) gimmicky, this is not (for the) National Football League," Vincent said. "So you got to earn that right to, you got to convert, play good D, play good offense, so it never came up this year. When it was, is anybody thinking about this in Indy, it was not open. The clubs weren’t open to proposing that fourth-and-17, that model that we’ve seen over the previous years."
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LIONS INSIDER: Grades for new free-agent acquisitions: Which moves get A's?
At the NFL's annual meeting last spring, the Philadelphia Eagles proposed allowing teams to try and convert a fourth-and-20 play after a score as a way to retain possession in lieu of an onside kick. The proposal was withdrawn before it was voted on.
Similar alternative onside kick proposals have been discussed previously, but Vincent said the success of the league's new kickoff rules in 2024 may have encouraged teams to "keep the tradition" of the onside kick.
After years of handwringing over regular kickoff plays, NFL owners adopted measures to make the play safer and encourage more returns last spring. Teams still kicked off from their own 35-yard line, but coverage units were not allowed running starts, touchbacks were moved from the 25- to the 30-yard line and a landing zone was instituted between the goal line and 20-yard line to force more returns.
NFL executives said Wednesday that 332 more kicks were returned last season than in 2023, with more touchdowns on kickoffs, more long returns and a lower injury rate that mimicked traditional plays from scrimmage. Scoring in the NFL ticked up last season, too, to 45.8 points per game, a result, officials said, of the change in drive start due to the kickoff rules.
Owners will vote at the league meetings next week to move touchbacks to the 35-yard line while making most of the other kickoff changes permanent. Rich McKay, co-chairman of the NFL's competition committee, said the expectation is returns would increase from around 33% last season to between 60-70% in 2025 with the new touchback rule.
You must be registered for see images attach
DRAFT WATCH: Detroit Lions apparently dig Michigan football star Josaiah Stewart; here's why they should
"(The change) creates about a 7-yard difference between the touchback line and what the average return was last year," McKay said. "We think that’s a lot of motivation for people to kick the ball in play and get returns back into the game, which we like now that we kind of know how that play works."
While the change in kickoff rules made recovering onside kicks more difficult last season — teams had to declare when they were going to attempt an onside kick, and could only do so in the fourth quarter — McKay said tweaks to the onside kick rule this year could bump recoveries from around 6% to 10-12%.
Under the new proposals, teams would still have to declare their intention to onside kick, but could do so at any point in a game and coverage players would be able to line up on the kick line, a yard closer than last year.
"There are plenty of people that argue about, 'Well, do we really want to give any advantage to the team that’s losing, to win the game?'" McKay said. "Do we want to just move that number from call it 6%, 7% or even 12%, to 25% for recovery, or getting the ball again?
"I would say there was no appetite for that. I would say most people want to see it move and move up to the 10 to 12% which it’s historically been in that range and I think the idea was, we just got to keep trying to work our way to get to that percentage ... We do think (the changes) give us an opportunity to move the number up. I think there’s just a lot of people that don’t want to move the number too far up as far as the recovery rate goes."
Along with the kickoff rules, owners will vote on expanding instant replay to allow replay assist to consult with on-field officials on an expanded menu of penalties, and for several team proposals including ones submitted by the Detroit Lions to change playoff seeding and eliminate an automatic first down as part of the penalty for defensive holding and illegal contact.
Dave Birkett is the author of the book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline."
Order your copy here.
Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: NFL won't consider 'gimmicky' onside kick alternatives
Continue reading...
