NFL's touchback rule change triggers debate on strategy
By
Aaron Wilson
Updated 3:29 pm, Wednesday, March 23, 2016
As the NFL adopted a new rule at the owners meetings governing touchbacks intended to cut back on injuries on arguably one of the most dangerous plays in football, the change sparked debate about how it will impact strategy and roster decisions.
Approving a competition committee proposal, the NFL moved the spot following touchback to the 25-yard line from the 20-yard line as an experiment for next season. It will be voted on again in a year on whether the rule change will become permanent. Several NFL coaches lobbied against the change, competition committee chairman Rich McKay acknowledged to reporters.
Once one of the most electrifying plays in the game, kickoff returns have been curtailed over the years as the NFL moved the kickoff start from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line.
"This isn't good news for the returner," Texans kicker Nick Novak said. "They want to do their job and try to score touchdowns and create a huge momentum swing. It's exciting for me. I know I'll have more touchbacks and kicks inside the 20. That's the mindset kickers are going to have.
"It's really based on what the team values and kicks can be strategic. The touchback percentage will go way up this year, and stats show there will be fewer overall injuries and fewer head injuries."
Will kickoff returners become relatively obsolete if teams are content to take the extra five yards and field position of the 25-yard line rather than attempt a return? Or will kickoff teams kick it high and short in hopes of pin down returns inside the 25-yard line?
"The emphasis for most teams has always been to try to get a touchback, and I think the kick return teams will be told to stay in because the scoring percentage for an offense from the 25-yard line is a little bit better than scoring from the 20-yard line," Novak said. "Kickers will get more creative. I feel like my strength has been getting the ball into the corner. I'm not a coach, but I've been kicking for a long time and I think it's a great option to get it inside the 25-yard line and get a coverage team that can tackle him inside the 20.
"Touchbacks will go up as far as percentages, so the league will accomplish that goal. You're also going to see more kickers getting creative and hanging it up to try to lengthen the field as much as they can. You will still have aggressive special teams coaches, but, when you catch it five yards deep in the end zone and can down it and have a 25-yard return, that's a pretty good return."
The concern about injuries, including former Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand suffering paralysis on a tackle on a kickoff in 2010 and Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett suffering a career-ending spine injury while making a tacle on a kickoff against the New York Giants in 2007, has prompted the changes to kickoffs.
"Basically, they're following the college rule," said former Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings special teams coach Gary Zauner, now a private coach for specialists based in Arizona. "In college, the teams that have a lot of speed aren't going to kick it deep and will hang it high and short and try to tackle them by covering the kick. In the beginning of the NFL season, I think it will be fine before there are a lot of injuries. Later in the season when guys get hurt and you have some starters covering kicks on special teams, I think that's when that approach will change and people will be kicking it out of the end zone again.
"In football, everything is predicated by field position. I think the teams will say, 'Let's kick it high and short' because I don't think you want great returners getting the ball. They've been just kicking it deep and you could put anybody on the kickoff team. I think it's going to be a lot to think about."
Where the decision could also trigger a different approach is when it comes to making personnel decisions on the back end of the roster. An NFL team may place a greater emphasis on keeping special teams contributors due to needing to cover more kickoffs.
"I think it's going to change rosters and how teams look at rosters," Zauner said. "You'll need to keep extra linebackers or defensive backs or an extra fullback who can play special teams. I think it'll impact the rosters. Some teams might say, 'We want field position over kicking a touchback.' Do you give them five more yards or do they try to cover the kickoff?
"There will be more collisions and possibly more injuries if you kick it short, but special teams coaches won't be doing that if they've got a lot of injuries. They're going to say, 'We don't have the guys to cover it.'"
The NFL attributed a decrease of nearly 40 percent fewer concussions on kickoffs in 2011 from the previous year because of the five-yard change in where the ball was kicked.
"When I was coaching, the kickoff was the most exciting play in football," Zauner said. "Then, they moved the kickoff line and took the most exciting play out of the game. They keep playing around with stuff and you've got to look at the ramifications as a special teams coach when you're putting your roster together. They can evaluate all of this and see how it looks. That's what preseason football is for to tinker with all these things and see what works."
