The New NFL's "Hybrid Kickoff" Proposal
 

Thought this was interesting. It should be wild if this is implemented (possibly this season).

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If it's the XFL model, it would be a good rule change

I like it in concept, but man...that's a lot of convoluted rules. I'd be more in favor of it if they simplified it a bit.

I don't know exactly what is the XFL model but I believe they said it was a hybrid of that and the old NFL model.

I agree. Seems rather complex. Though it does sound a lot more fun and interesting than watching the kickoff go through the end zone 90% of the time. Should be wild.

It's not THAT convoluted once you sit down and read it a bit but holy shit is it unnecessarily complicated.

I think the most insane part is it's actually going to punish kickers badly for doing that going forward. The ball gets put at the THIRTY FIVE if it lands in the end zone or out the back of it.

The kickoff team would follow the current alignment rules, with the 10 cover players, excluding only the kicker, required to have a foot on the opponent’s 40-yard line.

The bulk of the return team would be in a so-called “setup zone”, between the 30- and 35-yard line. At least nine players would have to be in that area, and six of them would have to have a foot on the 35.

Teams would then put one or two returners in the “landing zone,” which would be between the 20-yard and the goal line.

No one would be allowed to move other than the kicker and returners until the ball was fielded by a man on the return team.

No fair catches.

To incentivize creating returns, if the ball landed in the end zone, or went through the end zone, on the fly, a touchback would take the ball out to the 35-yard line.

If the ball, on the other hand, bounced in the landing zone, and was then downed in the end zone, a touchback would only take the ball to the 20-yard line.

If the ball didn’t get past the 20-yard line on the fly, it’d be treated as an out-of-bounds kick, and the offense would take possession on the 40.

I get why they want to do this, but I think I'd rather they just go back to the old kickoff spot (30 yard line I think?) so that it's harder to boot it through the end zone. Or hell, move it back even further so that only the biggest legs can get it there.

Kickers having fun o thread the needle or else you give the other team the ball at 40 makes late game situations more entertaining and there will be TDs from this , once you get by the initial line your gone .

It's definitely a little over complicated, but I'm fine with it if it brings back some excitement to kickoffs

Move it back, keep the alignment of the "Hybrid" rule and the can't move til it hits the ground or is caught. The ball cannot touch the ground before the 35 where the receiving team lines up or its treated like an OB kick and the offense starts at the 40.

The idea is that the NFL wants to encourage returns, but without the huge collisions that happen with a 40yd running start. While this new approach is a little convoluted, I think it accomplishes the safety improvement for the NFL, and brings back returns for the fans.

I like it other than the onside kick, granted it doesn't really change the existing onside kick rules much so it's no worse than it currently is, but to me one of the biggest things that was lost in the new kickoff rules was the onside kick became completely useless. Which takes games that could have possibly had a comeback & instead the game is just basically over when you're up more than 8 pts with under 3 minutes left.

Would love to see them allow the kicking team to recover in the landing zone, or even the area where all the blockers are located. So they would attempt a kick that would land as close to the 20 as possible & once it hits the ground both teams scramble for it. Would still allow for surprise onside kicks & actually give it a chance of being successful even when the opposition knows it's coming.

The New NFL's &quot;Hybrid Kickoff&quot; Proposal
 

An interesting side effect is that this would effectively end squib kicks.

I just don't like anything that makes kicking and special teams a bigger part of the game, as it potentially evens the playing field some for the less talented teams. And I've always hated gimmicky comebacks with a late score followed by an onside kick. Not good for a team like the Chiefs that are rarely down 2 scores late.

Kickers gonna have to learn to control distance. Seems convoluted and gimmicky ala the XFL.

How does this even make sense?

The idea of it seems good…returning some excitement (and, yeah, luck) to make kickoffs AND end-of-game moments more interesting than they are currently, usually—while keeping safety a priority. However, it does seem more convoluted than necessary. I do agree they need to back up the kickoff if they decide to give this a try; and figuring out a fair and equitable approach to officiating the “landing zone” needs to be refined a bit, IMO.

Imagine the quandary facing Toub if Toney is still on the squad (or Hardman returns) come September… LMAO

I like it, but not sure about the bolded part. Seems like it would result a lot of penalties, and a lot of wasted time enforcing penalties. Not sure why they need to limit onside kicks the fourth quarter.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/n...24-per-report/

NFL special teams coordinators have made a proposal that if approved would drastically change the kickoff in 2024, according to NFL Media.

Here are the three biggest nuggets from the proposal, which would need 75 percent approval from league owners to be put into effect:

Onside kicks: Teams can attempt onside kicks only in the fourth quarter and if they are trailing.

A new setup zone: Kick and return teams would line up on the receiving team's 40 and 35-yard-line, respectively. Neither team could leave on the kickoff until the ball reaches the "target zone," which is the 20-yard-line to the goal line. This is similar to the kickoff the XFL employed in 2023.

Touchbacks: Teams will get the ball on the 35-yard-line if the ball is kicked in the end zone. They'll get the ball at the 20-yard-line if the ball is kicked inside the "target zone" and rolls into the end zone.

Regarding onside kicks, teams may possibly be allowed to have an unbalanced formation, which is currently not permitted. That would likely increase the rate of onside kick attempts.

Ultimately, the NFL wants to encourage more returns while reducing high-speed collisions. Only 22 percent of kickoffs were returned in 2023. None of the 13 kickoffs in Super Bowl LVIII were returned.

The league wants to increase kickoff returns without increasing the concussion rate. Concussions on kickoffs was the reason why the NFL recently changed its kickoff model in the first place.

I always thought it’d be a good idea that if the kicker kicked the ball through the goal posts they’d get one or two points. But if you miss, the other team gets the ball at the 40.

Just wait for the Refs to make a controversial decision/interpretation on this in a Bill's game and y'all be back to square one.

can’t move until the ball is touched…so the return guy gets a full sprinting head start…seems like all the advantage is to the receiving team

I like it the way it is now with our current team. With our defense and knowing they'll start at the 25 works for us.

Do away with kickers all together.. Go for 2.. never punt and get the ball on the 30 after a TD.. ****ing kickers..

Still gonna call it football?

For those that need a visual

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XFL KO return for a TD

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Putting the FOOT back in football!

Oh wait…

This is all very dumb.

Not as dumb as lining up to kick the ball thru the end zone every time.

I want to thank DenverChief for posting those videos. I wanted to know more about this but I tapped out on Pat 45 seconds into the clip. The man sounds like an 1980's wrestler monologuing.

The videos are useful for getting the concept, but note that the NFL's version isn't exactly the same as the XFL's. Pat's video lays out the specifics.

That said, I'm guessing that this will be a "give it a try in preseason" kind of thing anyway, and I doubt that we'll see this actually implemented in full this year. A change this major could require a lot of tweaks.

I think it just seems convoluted to some because it's being explained from its most basic level. If you explained any basic football play from its most basic level down to the formation it would seem just as convoluted.

I like it honestly. The only part I don't like is the automatic start at the 35 if the kick goes into the endzone. Just have the kicker line up further back and let him boot it IMO.

and much easier comebacks.:shrug:

Yes, that's what's killing the game. Boring kickoffs. If I've heard it once, I've heard it one time, "We need to do something about kickoffs." I'm sure it will pass and the Chiefs will use it to beat Buffalo in the postseason and then it will revert back to the old rules. Or better yet, on kickoffs the new rule will be we have to make sure both teams get a chance to kickoff.

Kickoffs. We talkin bout kickoffs. if the Titanic was docked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the Hindenburg crashed into it, killing future president John F. Kennedy, that would be this proposal.