The NFL launched the dynamic kickoff rule this season in an effort to not solely enhance the variety of kickoff returns, however to additionally cut back accidents that occur on these performs. Commissioner Roger Goodell believes the change is engaged on each fronts.
Goodell mentioned the modifications on Saturday at a fan discussion board in London forward of Sunday’s sport between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears.
In line with Goodell, over 30% of the kickoffs in the NFL this season have resulted in a return, a rise from the 20% the league noticed a yr in the past. There have been different positives to come back from the brand new guidelines, too.
“With that enhance in returns, it is giving us extra knowledge to find out whether or not we are able to do it extra safely,” Goodell defined. “It truly is extremely promising. We’re seeing decrease impacts which have led to much less extreme accidents and fewer variety of accidents. So I feel it is working,”
The brand new kickoff guidelines have a number of modifications, with essentially the most important being the 2 groups lining up 5 yards from one another and never being allowed to run till the ball is caught by a returner.
The touchback line has additionally been moved to the 30-yard line as a substitute of the 25 to incentivize groups not simply kicking the ball by the tip zone.
The change is a one-year trial and Goodell envisions some potential tweaks sooner or later that might contain both shifting the kickoff line again so it’s not as simple to place the ball into the tip zone, to maybe even additional modifications to the place touchbacks would go.
Kickoffs had been reaching some extent the place they didn’t occur steadily sufficient, robbing followers of probably the most thrilling performs in a soccer sport, whereas additionally nonetheless producing excessive numbers of accidents. It appears that evidently the league has discovered a option to repair each issues on the similar time, even when there are room for some extra tweaks to it sooner or later.
