The one-year trial version of the dynamic kickoff in the NFL led to an uptick in the return rate that wasn’t quite as much as the league had hoped.
Now the new form of the kickoff that is more like a scrimmage play is permanent with a change for 2025 that the league hopes will lead to a significant increase in returns.
Owners voted Tuesday to move touchbacks on kicks from the 30 to the 35 in hopes that more teams will kick the ball in play instead of giving up an extra 5 yards of field position.
The league also approved changes to the overtime rule, expanded replay assist and made a few other technical changes at the league meetings in Palm Beach, Florida.
Here’s an explanation of some of the new rules that will be in place.
What’s new with the kickoff?
The league was mostly pleased with the experimental kickoff put in place for 2024 that led to the rate of kickoff returns increasing from a record-low 21.8% in 2023 to 32.8% last season, while reducing the rate of injuries on what had been the game’s most dangerous play.
The rule made kickoffs more like scrimmage plays by placing the coverage players and blockers close together to eliminate the high-speed collisions that had contributed to so many injuries on the play. The league said the rate of concussions dropped 43% on returns with a significant reduction as well on lower-body injuries.
The problem last season was many teams still opted to kick the ball in the end zone because the touchback wasn’t punitive enough with the average starting field position on a touchback being only 2.4 further than the average starting position after returns that was the 27.6-yard line.
By moving the touchback to the 35, the league projects that the return rate will rise to somewhere between 60% and 70% with a similar increase in long returns, adding more excitement to the game.
The league also approved a small tweak to how how blockers on the return team are allowed to line up in the setup zone that could lead to longer returns.
How will overtime change?
The league approved a proposal to make regular season overtime more like the postseason with both teams getting a chance at a possession, even if the team that got the ball first scored a touchdown.
The NFL added regular season overtime in 1974, adding a 15-minute sudden death period that ended on any score. In 2010, the rule was tweaked to a “modified” sudden death that required an opening possession touchdown to immediately end the game instead of only a field goal in both the regular season and playoffs.
Overtime then was shortened for the regular season to only 10 minutes in 2017. A rule change in 2022 for the playoffs only gave both teams the chance to score even with a touchdown on the opening possession.
Now that will be the case in the playoffs, after the improved field position on kickoffs made winning in OT on an opening possession TD easier.
According to Sportradar, six of the 16 overtime games last season ended on an opening drive TD for the most overtime games ended on the first drive since the rule change went into effect in 2010.
In all, teams that won the overtime toss won 75% of the time last season, according to Sportradar, and have a .606 winning percentage in overtime since it was cut to 10 minutes.
The league kept the 10-minute overtime period instead of expanding it back to 15 minutes like was originally proposed by Philadelphia, which could lead teams opting to go for 2 and a win if they match an opening drive TD with one of their own since there might not be time for another possession.
Replay assist
The NFL expanded its replay assist system to overturn objective calls such as facemask penalties, whether there was forcible contact to the head or neck area, horse-collar tackles, tripping if there was “clear and obvious” evidence that a foul didn’t occur. Replay also would be able to overturn a roughing-the-kicker or running-into-the-kicker penalty if video showed the defender made contact with the ball.
The league has been using replay assist in recent years to overturn obvious errors on aspects like whether a pass is caught or where the ball should be spotted without the referee needing to stop the game for a review.
The Competition Committee says there’s no interest in allowing replay assists to call penalties on plays missed by officials on the field.
Other changes
There were a few procedural rules changed. Teams will now by able to conduct Zoom or phone meetings with prospective free agents during the so-called legal tampering period.
Teams can place two players on injured reserve with the designation to return when rosters are reduced to 53 players instead of after. Playoff teams also will be granted two additional return from IR designations.
What’s up with the tush push?
A proposal by Green Bay to outlaw the tush push that Philadelphia has used so successfully was tabled until the May meetings. A vote on a proposal to tweak the onside kick rule also was delayed until May, along with a proposal by Detroit to change the playoff seeding to place wild-card teams ahead of a division winner with a worse record.
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