The NFL passed the new rule moving touchbacks after kickoffs to the 25-yard line in the hopes that receiving teams would be more likely to leave the ball in the end zone on kickoffs and therefore there would be fewer kickoff returns and fewer injuries. But that thinking comes with an assumption that the new rule will not change the way the kicking team approaches the kickoff.
Unfortunately for the NFL, more and more people in and around the league are coming forward to say that the new rule will significantly change the way the kicking team approaches the kickoff. In fact, many observers say there will be more kickoff returns this year than last year.
One such observer is longtime NFL kicker Jay Feely, who said today on PFT Live that he believes NFL kickers will aim for a high trajectory, with their kicks landing not in the end zone but between the goal line and the 5-yard line.
“It’s just a fallacy that that’s hard for an NFL kicker to do,” Feely said. “It’s not hard for them to adjust the height of the ball, it’s not hard for them to adjust the angle and where they’re kicking it, especially if they know, ‘I don’t have to kick it 10 yards deep, and now I can do a three-step approach and I can adjust my approach like a field goal approach. That’s not hard for an NFL kicker to do.”
The owners probably should have sought more input from kickers before voting to approve this new rule. From the sound of it, we’re going to have more kickoff returns this year.