The NFL’s competitors committee proposed a revamped kickoff Wednesday that resembles the alignment used within the XFL throughout its 2020 and 2023 seasons, one in all a collection of high-profile adjustments homeowners will think about subsequent week at their annual league assembly.
The committee additionally provided a rule that may prohibit the hip-drop tackling approach.
The kickoff proposal could be essentially the most vital on-field rule change for the NFL in years and is designed to reverse greater than a decade of declining return charges whereas additionally decreasing concussion charges. In essence, the committee’s proposal would transfer the vast majority of the kicking and return groups downfield to attenuate high-speed collisions. If accepted by not less than 24 of 32 homeowners, the rule would go into impact for one 12 months solely.
The kicker would proceed to kick from the 35-yard line, however the different 10 gamers would line up on the receiving staff’s 40-yard line. Not less than 9 members of the return staff would line up in a “setup zone” between the 35- and 30-yard line. As much as two returners can line up in a “touchdown zone” between the purpose line and the 20-yard line. Nobody aside from the kicker and returner(s) can transfer till the ball hits the bottom or a participant contained in the touchdown zone. Touchbacks could be marked on the 35-yard line, and no truthful catches could be allowed.
Within the occasion a staff desires to try an onside kick, it must inform officers of its intent and would then be allowed to make use of the NFL’s conventional formation. No shock onside kicks could be allowed.
The proposal follows the construction and philosophy of the XFL model with a slight shift in the place the gamers are aligned. Within the XFL, they lined up farther downfield, between the returning staff’s 30- and 35-yard strains. Greater than 90% of kickoffs had been returned throughout the XFL’s two seasons.
The rationale for the proposed adjustments is obvious. In its efforts to cut back concussions on kickoffs, the NFL over the previous 15 seasons has applied rule adjustments designed to cut back returns. It moved the kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, outlawed wedge and double-team blocks and in 2023 created a rule that allowed a good catch to be noticed on the 25-yard line.
Touchback charges dramatically elevated over that interval and the return fee fell to a league-record 21.7% in 2023. The variety of concussions dropped as properly, however solely in parallel with the lower in returns. The speed of concussions per kickoff, in keeping with league officers, has remained comparatively fixed.
It’s unclear how homeowners will react to the adjustments. When the XFL and USFL merged this season, the ensuing UFL discarded the XFL model and opted to make use of the standard NFL kickoff alignment.
In the meantime, the committee’s try and get rid of the hip-drop tackles — a harmful approach that usually ends in decrease physique accidents — requires officers to notice two actions: If a defender “grabs the runner with each arms or wraps the runner with each arms,” in keeping with the wording of the proposal and in addition “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or decrease physique, touchdown on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or under the knee.”
The committee’s proposals got here one week after groups made a collection of their very own rule change requests.
Different committee proposals included:
-
So as to add two situations to the checklist of reviewable performs: whether or not a passer is out of bounds or down by contact earlier than throwing, and whether or not the sport clock has expired earlier than a snap.
-
To develop the rule in opposition to crackback blocks to gamers “who go in movement and transfer past the middle to dam a defender at or under the knee,” in keeping with the proposal.
-
To permit groups to make use of a follow squad quarterback as its emergency No. 3 quarterback. Presently that quarterback should have beforehand been a part of the 53-man roster.
The NFL’s competitors committee proposed a revamped kickoff Wednesday that resembles the alignment used within the XFL throughout its 2020 and 2023 seasons, one in all a collection of high-profile adjustments homeowners will think about subsequent week at their annual league assembly.
The committee additionally provided a rule that may prohibit the hip-drop tackling approach.
The kickoff proposal could be essentially the most vital on-field rule change for the NFL in years and is designed to reverse greater than a decade of declining return charges whereas additionally decreasing concussion charges. In essence, the committee’s proposal would transfer the vast majority of the kicking and return groups downfield to attenuate high-speed collisions. If accepted by not less than 24 of 32 homeowners, the rule would go into impact for one 12 months solely.
The kicker would proceed to kick from the 35-yard line, however the different 10 gamers would line up on the receiving staff’s 40-yard line. Not less than 9 members of the return staff would line up in a “setup zone” between the 35- and 30-yard line. As much as two returners can line up in a “touchdown zone” between the purpose line and the 20-yard line. Nobody aside from the kicker and returner(s) can transfer till the ball hits the bottom or a participant contained in the touchdown zone. Touchbacks could be marked on the 35-yard line, and no truthful catches could be allowed.
Within the occasion a staff desires to try an onside kick, it must inform officers of its intent and would then be allowed to make use of the NFL’s conventional formation. No shock onside kicks could be allowed.
The proposal follows the construction and philosophy of the XFL model with a slight shift in the place the gamers are aligned. Within the XFL, they lined up farther downfield, between the returning staff’s 30- and 35-yard strains. Greater than 90% of kickoffs had been returned throughout the XFL’s two seasons.
The rationale for the proposed adjustments is obvious. In its efforts to cut back concussions on kickoffs, the NFL over the previous 15 seasons has applied rule adjustments designed to cut back returns. It moved the kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, outlawed wedge and double-team blocks and in 2023 created a rule that allowed a good catch to be noticed on the 25-yard line.
Touchback charges dramatically elevated over that interval and the return fee fell to a league-record 21.7% in 2023. The variety of concussions dropped as properly, however solely in parallel with the lower in returns. The speed of concussions per kickoff, in keeping with league officers, has remained comparatively fixed.
It’s unclear how homeowners will react to the adjustments. When the XFL and USFL merged this season, the ensuing UFL discarded the XFL model and opted to make use of the standard NFL kickoff alignment.
In the meantime, the committee’s try and get rid of the hip-drop tackles — a harmful approach that usually ends in decrease physique accidents — requires officers to notice two actions: If a defender “grabs the runner with each arms or wraps the runner with each arms,” in keeping with the wording of the proposal and in addition “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or decrease physique, touchdown on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or under the knee.”
The committee’s proposals got here one week after groups made a collection of their very own rule change requests.
Different committee proposals included:
-
So as to add two situations to the checklist of reviewable performs: whether or not a passer is out of bounds or down by contact earlier than throwing, and whether or not the sport clock has expired earlier than a snap.
-
To develop the rule in opposition to crackback blocks to gamers “who go in movement and transfer past the middle to dam a defender at or under the knee,” in keeping with the proposal.
-
To permit groups to make use of a follow squad quarterback as its emergency No. 3 quarterback. Presently that quarterback should have beforehand been a part of the 53-man roster.
The NFL’s competitors committee proposed a revamped kickoff Wednesday that resembles the alignment used within the XFL throughout its 2020 and 2023 seasons, one in all a collection of high-profile adjustments homeowners will think about subsequent week at their annual league assembly.
The committee additionally provided a rule that may prohibit the hip-drop tackling approach.
The kickoff proposal could be essentially the most vital on-field rule change for the NFL in years and is designed to reverse greater than a decade of declining return charges whereas additionally decreasing concussion charges. In essence, the committee’s proposal would transfer the vast majority of the kicking and return groups downfield to attenuate high-speed collisions. If accepted by not less than 24 of 32 homeowners, the rule would go into impact for one 12 months solely.
The kicker would proceed to kick from the 35-yard line, however the different 10 gamers would line up on the receiving staff’s 40-yard line. Not less than 9 members of the return staff would line up in a “setup zone” between the 35- and 30-yard line. As much as two returners can line up in a “touchdown zone” between the purpose line and the 20-yard line. Nobody aside from the kicker and returner(s) can transfer till the ball hits the bottom or a participant contained in the touchdown zone. Touchbacks could be marked on the 35-yard line, and no truthful catches could be allowed.
Within the occasion a staff desires to try an onside kick, it must inform officers of its intent and would then be allowed to make use of the NFL’s conventional formation. No shock onside kicks could be allowed.
The proposal follows the construction and philosophy of the XFL model with a slight shift in the place the gamers are aligned. Within the XFL, they lined up farther downfield, between the returning staff’s 30- and 35-yard strains. Greater than 90% of kickoffs had been returned throughout the XFL’s two seasons.
The rationale for the proposed adjustments is obvious. In its efforts to cut back concussions on kickoffs, the NFL over the previous 15 seasons has applied rule adjustments designed to cut back returns. It moved the kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, outlawed wedge and double-team blocks and in 2023 created a rule that allowed a good catch to be noticed on the 25-yard line.
Touchback charges dramatically elevated over that interval and the return fee fell to a league-record 21.7% in 2023. The variety of concussions dropped as properly, however solely in parallel with the lower in returns. The speed of concussions per kickoff, in keeping with league officers, has remained comparatively fixed.
It’s unclear how homeowners will react to the adjustments. When the XFL and USFL merged this season, the ensuing UFL discarded the XFL model and opted to make use of the standard NFL kickoff alignment.
In the meantime, the committee’s try and get rid of the hip-drop tackles — a harmful approach that usually ends in decrease physique accidents — requires officers to notice two actions: If a defender “grabs the runner with each arms or wraps the runner with each arms,” in keeping with the wording of the proposal and in addition “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or decrease physique, touchdown on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or under the knee.”
The committee’s proposals got here one week after groups made a collection of their very own rule change requests.
Different committee proposals included:
-
So as to add two situations to the checklist of reviewable performs: whether or not a passer is out of bounds or down by contact earlier than throwing, and whether or not the sport clock has expired earlier than a snap.
-
To develop the rule in opposition to crackback blocks to gamers “who go in movement and transfer past the middle to dam a defender at or under the knee,” in keeping with the proposal.
-
To permit groups to make use of a follow squad quarterback as its emergency No. 3 quarterback. Presently that quarterback should have beforehand been a part of the 53-man roster.
The NFL’s competitors committee proposed a revamped kickoff Wednesday that resembles the alignment used within the XFL throughout its 2020 and 2023 seasons, one in all a collection of high-profile adjustments homeowners will think about subsequent week at their annual league assembly.
The committee additionally provided a rule that may prohibit the hip-drop tackling approach.
The kickoff proposal could be essentially the most vital on-field rule change for the NFL in years and is designed to reverse greater than a decade of declining return charges whereas additionally decreasing concussion charges. In essence, the committee’s proposal would transfer the vast majority of the kicking and return groups downfield to attenuate high-speed collisions. If accepted by not less than 24 of 32 homeowners, the rule would go into impact for one 12 months solely.
The kicker would proceed to kick from the 35-yard line, however the different 10 gamers would line up on the receiving staff’s 40-yard line. Not less than 9 members of the return staff would line up in a “setup zone” between the 35- and 30-yard line. As much as two returners can line up in a “touchdown zone” between the purpose line and the 20-yard line. Nobody aside from the kicker and returner(s) can transfer till the ball hits the bottom or a participant contained in the touchdown zone. Touchbacks could be marked on the 35-yard line, and no truthful catches could be allowed.
Within the occasion a staff desires to try an onside kick, it must inform officers of its intent and would then be allowed to make use of the NFL’s conventional formation. No shock onside kicks could be allowed.
The proposal follows the construction and philosophy of the XFL model with a slight shift in the place the gamers are aligned. Within the XFL, they lined up farther downfield, between the returning staff’s 30- and 35-yard strains. Greater than 90% of kickoffs had been returned throughout the XFL’s two seasons.
The rationale for the proposed adjustments is obvious. In its efforts to cut back concussions on kickoffs, the NFL over the previous 15 seasons has applied rule adjustments designed to cut back returns. It moved the kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, outlawed wedge and double-team blocks and in 2023 created a rule that allowed a good catch to be noticed on the 25-yard line.
Touchback charges dramatically elevated over that interval and the return fee fell to a league-record 21.7% in 2023. The variety of concussions dropped as properly, however solely in parallel with the lower in returns. The speed of concussions per kickoff, in keeping with league officers, has remained comparatively fixed.
It’s unclear how homeowners will react to the adjustments. When the XFL and USFL merged this season, the ensuing UFL discarded the XFL model and opted to make use of the standard NFL kickoff alignment.
In the meantime, the committee’s try and get rid of the hip-drop tackles — a harmful approach that usually ends in decrease physique accidents — requires officers to notice two actions: If a defender “grabs the runner with each arms or wraps the runner with each arms,” in keeping with the wording of the proposal and in addition “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or decrease physique, touchdown on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or under the knee.”
The committee’s proposals got here one week after groups made a collection of their very own rule change requests.
Different committee proposals included:
-
So as to add two situations to the checklist of reviewable performs: whether or not a passer is out of bounds or down by contact earlier than throwing, and whether or not the sport clock has expired earlier than a snap.
-
To develop the rule in opposition to crackback blocks to gamers “who go in movement and transfer past the middle to dam a defender at or under the knee,” in keeping with the proposal.
-
To permit groups to make use of a follow squad quarterback as its emergency No. 3 quarterback. Presently that quarterback should have beforehand been a part of the 53-man roster.
The NFL’s competitors committee proposed a revamped kickoff Wednesday that resembles the alignment used within the XFL throughout its 2020 and 2023 seasons, one in all a collection of high-profile adjustments homeowners will think about subsequent week at their annual league assembly.
The committee additionally provided a rule that may prohibit the hip-drop tackling approach.
The kickoff proposal could be essentially the most vital on-field rule change for the NFL in years and is designed to reverse greater than a decade of declining return charges whereas additionally decreasing concussion charges. In essence, the committee’s proposal would transfer the vast majority of the kicking and return groups downfield to attenuate high-speed collisions. If accepted by not less than 24 of 32 homeowners, the rule would go into impact for one 12 months solely.
The kicker would proceed to kick from the 35-yard line, however the different 10 gamers would line up on the receiving staff’s 40-yard line. Not less than 9 members of the return staff would line up in a “setup zone” between the 35- and 30-yard line. As much as two returners can line up in a “touchdown zone” between the purpose line and the 20-yard line. Nobody aside from the kicker and returner(s) can transfer till the ball hits the bottom or a participant contained in the touchdown zone. Touchbacks could be marked on the 35-yard line, and no truthful catches could be allowed.
Within the occasion a staff desires to try an onside kick, it must inform officers of its intent and would then be allowed to make use of the NFL’s conventional formation. No shock onside kicks could be allowed.
The proposal follows the construction and philosophy of the XFL model with a slight shift in the place the gamers are aligned. Within the XFL, they lined up farther downfield, between the returning staff’s 30- and 35-yard strains. Greater than 90% of kickoffs had been returned throughout the XFL’s two seasons.
The rationale for the proposed adjustments is obvious. In its efforts to cut back concussions on kickoffs, the NFL over the previous 15 seasons has applied rule adjustments designed to cut back returns. It moved the kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, outlawed wedge and double-team blocks and in 2023 created a rule that allowed a good catch to be noticed on the 25-yard line.
Touchback charges dramatically elevated over that interval and the return fee fell to a league-record 21.7% in 2023. The variety of concussions dropped as properly, however solely in parallel with the lower in returns. The speed of concussions per kickoff, in keeping with league officers, has remained comparatively fixed.
It’s unclear how homeowners will react to the adjustments. When the XFL and USFL merged this season, the ensuing UFL discarded the XFL model and opted to make use of the standard NFL kickoff alignment.
In the meantime, the committee’s try and get rid of the hip-drop tackles — a harmful approach that usually ends in decrease physique accidents — requires officers to notice two actions: If a defender “grabs the runner with each arms or wraps the runner with each arms,” in keeping with the wording of the proposal and in addition “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or decrease physique, touchdown on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or under the knee.”
The committee’s proposals got here one week after groups made a collection of their very own rule change requests.
Different committee proposals included:
-
So as to add two situations to the checklist of reviewable performs: whether or not a passer is out of bounds or down by contact earlier than throwing, and whether or not the sport clock has expired earlier than a snap.
-
To develop the rule in opposition to crackback blocks to gamers “who go in movement and transfer past the middle to dam a defender at or under the knee,” in keeping with the proposal.
-
To permit groups to make use of a follow squad quarterback as its emergency No. 3 quarterback. Presently that quarterback should have beforehand been a part of the 53-man roster.
The NFL’s competitors committee proposed a revamped kickoff Wednesday that resembles the alignment used within the XFL throughout its 2020 and 2023 seasons, one in all a collection of high-profile adjustments homeowners will think about subsequent week at their annual league assembly.
The committee additionally provided a rule that may prohibit the hip-drop tackling approach.
The kickoff proposal could be essentially the most vital on-field rule change for the NFL in years and is designed to reverse greater than a decade of declining return charges whereas additionally decreasing concussion charges. In essence, the committee’s proposal would transfer the vast majority of the kicking and return groups downfield to attenuate high-speed collisions. If accepted by not less than 24 of 32 homeowners, the rule would go into impact for one 12 months solely.
The kicker would proceed to kick from the 35-yard line, however the different 10 gamers would line up on the receiving staff’s 40-yard line. Not less than 9 members of the return staff would line up in a “setup zone” between the 35- and 30-yard line. As much as two returners can line up in a “touchdown zone” between the purpose line and the 20-yard line. Nobody aside from the kicker and returner(s) can transfer till the ball hits the bottom or a participant contained in the touchdown zone. Touchbacks could be marked on the 35-yard line, and no truthful catches could be allowed.
Within the occasion a staff desires to try an onside kick, it must inform officers of its intent and would then be allowed to make use of the NFL’s conventional formation. No shock onside kicks could be allowed.
The proposal follows the construction and philosophy of the XFL model with a slight shift in the place the gamers are aligned. Within the XFL, they lined up farther downfield, between the returning staff’s 30- and 35-yard strains. Greater than 90% of kickoffs had been returned throughout the XFL’s two seasons.
The rationale for the proposed adjustments is obvious. In its efforts to cut back concussions on kickoffs, the NFL over the previous 15 seasons has applied rule adjustments designed to cut back returns. It moved the kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, outlawed wedge and double-team blocks and in 2023 created a rule that allowed a good catch to be noticed on the 25-yard line.
Touchback charges dramatically elevated over that interval and the return fee fell to a league-record 21.7% in 2023. The variety of concussions dropped as properly, however solely in parallel with the lower in returns. The speed of concussions per kickoff, in keeping with league officers, has remained comparatively fixed.
It’s unclear how homeowners will react to the adjustments. When the XFL and USFL merged this season, the ensuing UFL discarded the XFL model and opted to make use of the standard NFL kickoff alignment.
In the meantime, the committee’s try and get rid of the hip-drop tackles — a harmful approach that usually ends in decrease physique accidents — requires officers to notice two actions: If a defender “grabs the runner with each arms or wraps the runner with each arms,” in keeping with the wording of the proposal and in addition “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or decrease physique, touchdown on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or under the knee.”
The committee’s proposals got here one week after groups made a collection of their very own rule change requests.
Different committee proposals included:
-
So as to add two situations to the checklist of reviewable performs: whether or not a passer is out of bounds or down by contact earlier than throwing, and whether or not the sport clock has expired earlier than a snap.
-
To develop the rule in opposition to crackback blocks to gamers “who go in movement and transfer past the middle to dam a defender at or under the knee,” in keeping with the proposal.
-
To permit groups to make use of a follow squad quarterback as its emergency No. 3 quarterback. Presently that quarterback should have beforehand been a part of the 53-man roster.
The NFL’s competitors committee proposed a revamped kickoff Wednesday that resembles the alignment used within the XFL throughout its 2020 and 2023 seasons, one in all a collection of high-profile adjustments homeowners will think about subsequent week at their annual league assembly.
The committee additionally provided a rule that may prohibit the hip-drop tackling approach.
The kickoff proposal could be essentially the most vital on-field rule change for the NFL in years and is designed to reverse greater than a decade of declining return charges whereas additionally decreasing concussion charges. In essence, the committee’s proposal would transfer the vast majority of the kicking and return groups downfield to attenuate high-speed collisions. If accepted by not less than 24 of 32 homeowners, the rule would go into impact for one 12 months solely.
The kicker would proceed to kick from the 35-yard line, however the different 10 gamers would line up on the receiving staff’s 40-yard line. Not less than 9 members of the return staff would line up in a “setup zone” between the 35- and 30-yard line. As much as two returners can line up in a “touchdown zone” between the purpose line and the 20-yard line. Nobody aside from the kicker and returner(s) can transfer till the ball hits the bottom or a participant contained in the touchdown zone. Touchbacks could be marked on the 35-yard line, and no truthful catches could be allowed.
Within the occasion a staff desires to try an onside kick, it must inform officers of its intent and would then be allowed to make use of the NFL’s conventional formation. No shock onside kicks could be allowed.
The proposal follows the construction and philosophy of the XFL model with a slight shift in the place the gamers are aligned. Within the XFL, they lined up farther downfield, between the returning staff’s 30- and 35-yard strains. Greater than 90% of kickoffs had been returned throughout the XFL’s two seasons.
The rationale for the proposed adjustments is obvious. In its efforts to cut back concussions on kickoffs, the NFL over the previous 15 seasons has applied rule adjustments designed to cut back returns. It moved the kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, outlawed wedge and double-team blocks and in 2023 created a rule that allowed a good catch to be noticed on the 25-yard line.
Touchback charges dramatically elevated over that interval and the return fee fell to a league-record 21.7% in 2023. The variety of concussions dropped as properly, however solely in parallel with the lower in returns. The speed of concussions per kickoff, in keeping with league officers, has remained comparatively fixed.
It’s unclear how homeowners will react to the adjustments. When the XFL and USFL merged this season, the ensuing UFL discarded the XFL model and opted to make use of the standard NFL kickoff alignment.
In the meantime, the committee’s try and get rid of the hip-drop tackles — a harmful approach that usually ends in decrease physique accidents — requires officers to notice two actions: If a defender “grabs the runner with each arms or wraps the runner with each arms,” in keeping with the wording of the proposal and in addition “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or decrease physique, touchdown on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or under the knee.”
The committee’s proposals got here one week after groups made a collection of their very own rule change requests.
Different committee proposals included:
-
So as to add two situations to the checklist of reviewable performs: whether or not a passer is out of bounds or down by contact earlier than throwing, and whether or not the sport clock has expired earlier than a snap.
-
To develop the rule in opposition to crackback blocks to gamers “who go in movement and transfer past the middle to dam a defender at or under the knee,” in keeping with the proposal.
-
To permit groups to make use of a follow squad quarterback as its emergency No. 3 quarterback. Presently that quarterback should have beforehand been a part of the 53-man roster.
The NFL’s competitors committee proposed a revamped kickoff Wednesday that resembles the alignment used within the XFL throughout its 2020 and 2023 seasons, one in all a collection of high-profile adjustments homeowners will think about subsequent week at their annual league assembly.
The committee additionally provided a rule that may prohibit the hip-drop tackling approach.
The kickoff proposal could be essentially the most vital on-field rule change for the NFL in years and is designed to reverse greater than a decade of declining return charges whereas additionally decreasing concussion charges. In essence, the committee’s proposal would transfer the vast majority of the kicking and return groups downfield to attenuate high-speed collisions. If accepted by not less than 24 of 32 homeowners, the rule would go into impact for one 12 months solely.
The kicker would proceed to kick from the 35-yard line, however the different 10 gamers would line up on the receiving staff’s 40-yard line. Not less than 9 members of the return staff would line up in a “setup zone” between the 35- and 30-yard line. As much as two returners can line up in a “touchdown zone” between the purpose line and the 20-yard line. Nobody aside from the kicker and returner(s) can transfer till the ball hits the bottom or a participant contained in the touchdown zone. Touchbacks could be marked on the 35-yard line, and no truthful catches could be allowed.
Within the occasion a staff desires to try an onside kick, it must inform officers of its intent and would then be allowed to make use of the NFL’s conventional formation. No shock onside kicks could be allowed.
The proposal follows the construction and philosophy of the XFL model with a slight shift in the place the gamers are aligned. Within the XFL, they lined up farther downfield, between the returning staff’s 30- and 35-yard strains. Greater than 90% of kickoffs had been returned throughout the XFL’s two seasons.
The rationale for the proposed adjustments is obvious. In its efforts to cut back concussions on kickoffs, the NFL over the previous 15 seasons has applied rule adjustments designed to cut back returns. It moved the kickoff from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, outlawed wedge and double-team blocks and in 2023 created a rule that allowed a good catch to be noticed on the 25-yard line.
Touchback charges dramatically elevated over that interval and the return fee fell to a league-record 21.7% in 2023. The variety of concussions dropped as properly, however solely in parallel with the lower in returns. The speed of concussions per kickoff, in keeping with league officers, has remained comparatively fixed.
It’s unclear how homeowners will react to the adjustments. When the XFL and USFL merged this season, the ensuing UFL discarded the XFL model and opted to make use of the standard NFL kickoff alignment.
In the meantime, the committee’s try and get rid of the hip-drop tackles — a harmful approach that usually ends in decrease physique accidents — requires officers to notice two actions: If a defender “grabs the runner with each arms or wraps the runner with each arms,” in keeping with the wording of the proposal and in addition “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or decrease physique, touchdown on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or under the knee.”
The committee’s proposals got here one week after groups made a collection of their very own rule change requests.
Different committee proposals included:
-
So as to add two situations to the checklist of reviewable performs: whether or not a passer is out of bounds or down by contact earlier than throwing, and whether or not the sport clock has expired earlier than a snap.
-
To develop the rule in opposition to crackback blocks to gamers “who go in movement and transfer past the middle to dam a defender at or under the knee,” in keeping with the proposal.
-
To permit groups to make use of a follow squad quarterback as its emergency No. 3 quarterback. Presently that quarterback should have beforehand been a part of the 53-man roster.