NFL considering significant kickoff and onside kick changes

NFL

By Jaclyn Hendricks

The NFL is looking to spice things up where kickoffs and onside kicks are concerned.

Special teams coordinators have developed a new kickoff rule in the hopes of raising “the frequency and success rates of onside kicks” and therefore “raising chances of a late comeback,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Sunday.

Teams would only be allowed to try for an onside kick when behind in the fourth quarter and would have to verify their intentions ahead of time, according to the report.

In the event the kickoff team pursues the onside kick, the team potentially may “be allowed to utilize an unbalanced (6×4) formation,” in the hope of a successful recovery.

This rule suggestion apparently is one piece of a grander proposal of evolving kickoff guidelines that includes the setup zone, in which “the kickoff and return teams would line up on the receiving team’s 40- and 35-yard lines, respectively, and not leave until the ball is touched or reaches the ‘target zone’ (20-yard line to goal line),” Pelissero reported.

With touchbacks, “If the ball is kicked into the end zone, the receiving team gets it at the 35-yard line. If the ball is kicked into the target zone and rolls into the end zone, the receiving team possession would start at the 20-yard line.”

Nothing is set in stone yet, however, as owners must approve of the change and the language “is still be finalized,” per Pelissero.

A mere 5.2 percent of onside kicks were recovered this past season, the report noted.

In the development of this new rule, the league hopes it can “make the kickoff game exciting again,” while also evading higher injury rates.

This change could potentially be explored at the annual league meetings in Orlando beginning Sunday, March 24.