NFL kickoffs
- Thread starter Ranchdawg
- Start date
They did it for two reasons. One was to incentivize teams into not kicking into the endzone for touchbacks and the other was player safety. The XFL came up with this kickoff method and it worked very well in making teams kick it to make the receiving team return the ball. The problem is in the NFL changed the touchback from the XFL version where the receiving team gets the ball on the 35, they changed it to the 30. NFL teams are still inclined to just kick it for a touchback.
As far as player safety goes the NFL really hasn’t put anything out yet saying one way or another for injuries but I would imagine in cuts down on the high speed collisions.
It’s weird as hell, but I kind of like the idea of not having players charge downfield for 40 yards to hit someone. They need to move the touchback line to the 20 & move the kickoff point back to the 30 (or even 25), far enough that the kicker will struggle to get it into the end zone easily.
I think it’s a solid idea. The Kevin Everett injury in Buffalo immediately comes to mind as one that this is designed to stop situations like that from happening. That was 15-20 years ago, granted.
Yeah it definitely needs some tweaks. Do a couple things to incentivize returns and it could be pretty exciting.