ORLANDO, Fla. — The NFL just figured out how to take altitude out of Mile High.
Instead of nothing but touchbacks at Mile High stadium, league owners just passed a dramatically different new kickoff rule that assures there will be returns.
Marvin Mims Jr., you’re up.
“I like the rule,’’ Broncos head coach Sean Payton said at his AFC head coaches breakfast Monday.
Is Mims, who was voted to the AFC Pro Bowl as a kickoff returner in his rookie year, why Payton likes the rule?
“It’s a good reason to like it,’’ Payton said.
Wondering how the Broncos can improve from last season’s 8-9 record without a proven quarterback? The way may be through special teams, the area where the Broncos most improved in 2023 thanks in large part to Mims and special teams coaches Mike Westhoff, Ben Kotwica and Chris Banjo.
“We have the best special teams coaches, we have one of the best returners,’’ Broncos owner and CEO Greg Penner told 9NEWS here at the NFL owners meeting. Penner was one of the 29 owners who voted to approve the new kickoff rule. “I’m for it just because all the changes that have been made the last five or six years made that play safer but they also took it away to a great extent. The reason not to pass it was, are there some unintended consequences. But I’m all for, ‘Let’s see.”’
In the previous three seasons at Empower Field at Mile High, the kickoff touchback rate was 86.4%. The new kickoff rule -- if it plays out as expected -- could cut that figure in half. Emphasis on 'could' as there is data, and there is data at altitude. The new rule vs. altitude must play out.
It’s going to take some getting used to. Old-school players, coaches and fans may not like it. It’s a gimmick-looking play borrowed from the XFL, and then modified by the NFL, motivated by a desire to bring the kickoff return – which always has the potential for thrills and spills – to become more prevalent. In this case, the new kickoff rule hopes to create both more thrills and fewer spills.
“We’re in the business of creating an entertaining product,’’ said Rich McKay, longtime chairman of the NFL’s competition committee. “And putting a product on the field that is competitive at every moment. We created a play that is no longer competitive. Our job as a membership is to try and find a way to make that play more competitive.”
What you need to know about the new kickoff:
*Broncos kicker Wil Lutz will kick off from his own 35 yard line, as always. That’s where the similarities end.
*The other 10 players on the coverage team will line up on the other team’s 40 yard line – 25 yards in front of where Lutz kicks off. This will be the quirkiest adjustment to a fans’ eyes.
*If Lutz boots a touchback, the opposing team gets the ball at its own 30-yard line. This is moved up 5 yards from the 25 yard line in recent years. But it’s also 5 yards back from the initial proposal that more severely penalized touchbacks, which was to bring the ball out to the 35.
McKay said the 30 yard line was a compromise to help NFL coaches adjust to the new rule. Once everyone becomes familiar with the new kickoff rules, touchbacks may come out to the 35 next year.
*Lutz is to kick the ball to a drop zone identified between the goal line and the 20. If the ball lands short of the 20 – say it bounces at the 22 -- the play is blown dead and the ball will be placed out to the 40. Again, if the boot goes beyond the goal line for a touchback, the ball will be placed at the 30.
So between the goal line and the 20 is where most kicks will go.
Has it been mentioned Mims averaged 25.6 yards per kickoff return last season – 99 coming on a touchdown return at Miami – that was 5th-best in the league?
*The return team. Each team will have two returners placed between the goal line and 20. The other 9 players on the return team have to line up between their own 30 and 35, with at least 7 touching the 35. The idea? To reduce the high speed collisions that occur when one side has several players racing 70 to 80 yards downfield while the other team has several blockers bracing to absorb the blow.
With one side lined up at the 35 and the other side lined up at the 40, it will be more like a punt play scrum.
*The defenders on the 40 and blockers on the 35 can’t move until the returner catches the ball or the ball hits the ground.
*Obviously, this alignment prevents the ability to perform an onside kick. But hold on. In the fourth quarter, the kicking team can attempt the onside kick using the old alignment. There will be no surprise element as the kicker will have 10 players on his flanks. An onside kick can be used twice a game.
"I think there's still more we have to tinker with,'' said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at his end-of-meetings press conference Tuesday. "I think it's one of those things when we get into play and we look at things we'll evaluate that as the season goes on and if it's appropriate make changes.
"But I think it will be a big improvement. I think it will bring the play back into a relevant play. An important play and an exciting play. I think we can do it where the injury rate hopefully will drop."
The NFL and competition committee enlisted two active special teams coordinators – John Fassel of the Cowboys and the Saint’s Darren Rizzi – to work through and sell the new rules. They sought advice from other special teams coordinators and players.
“This is going to be a work in progress,’’ Rizzi said. “This preseason obviously will be really important for us.’’
Tune it to 9NEWS for Broncos preseason games and your first look at the new way of NFL teams doing kickoffs.
The higher return rate – and expectation for a greater rate of explosive returns – has Fassel applauding the new rule.
“This is a great day for special teams, no doubt about it,’’ Fassel said.
Never mind a quarterback. The Broncos may have to draft another Marvin Mims.
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