Not sure I’m gonna be a fan of the new rule, but whatever makes kickoffs more exciting than they have been for the last few years is good. An endless parade of touchbacks every game/week/season just blows.
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I am going to have to watch some B league football this summer and see how this works.
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I have been thinking about this a bit more. It has the potential to really make the kicking game a lot more important. Probably not as important as good offence and good defense, but a lot closer in importance than it is now.

Field goals and great field goal kickers are already underrated. Brady would not have won all those Super Bowls if it weren’t for Vinatieri and to a lessor extent Gostkowski. And we have a great advantage here already with Butker and unfortunately, the ravens do too with Tucker.

But now the kick return game will take on much more added significance.

We might also be in a great position here. Toney might even redeem himself. He is undeniably great in the open field. I’m not sure if his big problem in catching the ball ever came in to play for catching kicks like it did for catching passes. But even if it does with the new rule, the team can’t move forward until he touches the ball so he should still have time to recover if he fumbles. Also we could always put somebody close to him with blocking as the primary job, but his secondary job would be too get fumbles if Toney fumbles. Who knows, if he gains his confidence back on the kicking game, it might even help him as a receiver. I think his problem there is more in his head than just having boards for hands.

The only thing that will stop the kicking game from getting increased importance is for kickers that can punch it through the end zone, and we have a great advantage there also.

But I think that advantage will be short-lived. If the NFL doesn’t get the exciting kickoff game it is looking for I think next year they will just make the kicker move back even further so kicking it out of the end zone is very hard to do.

The more I think about this new rule, the more I think I like it, and that it will add excitement to the game. And may not even hurt us against lesser teams as much as I originally worried it would.
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This makes a ton of sense.

The #Chiefs have considered not using Harrison Butker for all kickoffs and instead using a player like safety Justin Reid.

Special teams coordinator Dave Toub said the new kickoff rule has kickers more involved in tackles, and they don't want that for Butker.

The full answer is… pic.twitter.com/V10t0QkMFf

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 30, 2024

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It makes a lot of sense despite being called out in another thread for it. We may have a unique advantage in having guys on the roster who can kick off a tee
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Yeah the whole thing is a bad rule change to begin with. I could see other teams doing the same thing to protect their Kicker. Kickers are pretty damned important in the NFL so maybe the NFL should rethink this one.
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The NFL couldn't give a shit about kickers. Kickers aren't going to move the TV ratings needle. No one is going to not watch the Chiefs because Butker is hurt.
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