The National Football League made significant tweaks to kickoffs for the 2024 NFL season while also approving several other major rule changes.
NFL team owners voted in favor of adopting a kickoff play format similar to the one previously used by the now-defunct XFL spring football league. According to the league, the changes aim to make kickoffs more entertaining while still prioritizing the safety of players.
Under the new kickoff rules, the kicker will kick the ball from the 35-yard line while the remaining 10 players on the kicking unit will line up at the 40-yard line of the opposition’s side of the field. At least seven players of the receiving team will line up in the “set-up zone,” which is a five-yard area between their own 35-yard and 30-yard lines. A maximum of two returners can line up in the “landing zone,” area between the 20-yard line and goal line of the receiving team.
If the ball lands in the “landing zone,” it must be returned. If it bounces back from the “landing zone” into the endzone, it can be either downed for a 20-yard start or returned.
The new kickoff rule will be in place for the 2024 NFL season before being reevaluated next offseason.
“I think that we’re still going to have to tinker with it,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters on Tuesday. “I think it’s one of those things, when you get it in play, you look at things and we’ll reevaluate that as the season’s going on. And if it’s appropriate to make changes in the future, we will.”
Other changes include banning the swivel hip-drop tackle technique and making the third challenge more easily attainable.
The swivel hip-drop tackle, which sees tacklers wrapping their arms around the opposing player and then “dropping” their weight to the ground while trapping their legs, is considered highly dangerous and has led to several serious injuries last season.
Until now, coaches have had to be successful in two challenges to receive a third one. Now, they will get a third challenge if they are successful on their first.
