WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – As teams across the NFL enter the midway point of the 2024 season, they have gained extensive inventory on the risks and rewards that have come with the league's hybrid kickoff format.
One game that offered examples in both cases was Week 7's Thursday Night Football matchup between the Seahawks and the 49ers. It worked to Seattle's advantage when it resulted for a touchdown off a return, but by the same token, San Francisco had two kickers hurt on kickoff returns in five days.
"If you look at just the pure numbers, you're like, Oh, well, it's easier to hang the ball up you gain a yard, or two, you know, actually gain like, a half a yard, maybe on average. But then you're putting yourself at risk," Rams special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn explained Thursday as the team prepared for Sunday's Week 9 road game against the Seahawks. "And a couple kicker injuries have happened this year. Look at San Fran, two of them already, and you're like, Okay, what's the risk reward of that? What's the penalties? You know, are they getting called? Are they not getting called? The illegal doubles, the holdings, the block in the backs, the blind sides, all that kind of stuff. They haven't been as prevalent as I think you would think in this, with that kind of spacing. And so when that stuff's not getting called, and you're not getting the penalty yardage, backing things up, and the turnovers versus the big returns, the explosives, the game changers, the three touchdowns...
"Even Seattle versus San Fran, San Fran's in pretty good control of that game, and Seattle pops one for a touchdown, and really kind of has an opportunity to climb back in the game and gives them a little bit of life. And that situation is the risk worth the reward? Yeah, the other ones, you cause a turnover early in the game. Great. You go out there and you tackle them at the 24, the 26 but then that one goes for 100-yard touchdown. It's like... did it equal out? Or is it like, was it, you know, so I just think it's dependent upon the head coach's philosophy, depending upon the special teams coordinator, the players situation in the game, a little bit of everything."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that more than 30 percent of kickoffs have been returned this year, up from 22 percent last season. The league average for kickoff return yards of 26.5 is also nearly three yards more than league-bests of 23.8 in 2011 and 2014. This hybrid format has also contributed to an average starting field position of the 29-yard line, versus the 24-yard line in 2023.
Given those advantages, not to mention the momentum swings and potential negative consequences, why not just adopt the philosophy of kicking the ball out of the endzone every time?
Punter Ethan Evans has had 33 of his 34 kickoffs (97%) result touchbacks. Blackburn acknowledged there's several teams who have taken that approach – he estimated five-seven – and that the Rams are "in that category, for the most part." Still, it's not that simple.
"Some teams will return it from the end zone and then you're saying, 'okay, well they're minus seven,' you're already getting seven yards of field position by the time they catch it because it's no longer the hang time where everyone's getting down the field that matters, it's where the ball is caught," Blackburn said. "So, if they're seven or six yards in the end zone, everyone's leaving when the ball's caught, kickoff team and kickoff return. So, all the timing and spacing now comes out of play for the return unit. So, if they want to bring it out from five, six or seven [yards] deep, you have an opportunity to avoid and create those tackles inside that 25-yard line if they want to take the risk of bringing it out."
Then there are a handful of teams like the Saints and Browns who put "everything on the ground" and force teams to return every kick in order to get better at covering kicks than the teams that aren't returning it often. Blackburn said he sees the advantages of both philosophies, noting each special teams coordinator's philosophy, what each has personnel-wise and the opponent they're facing that week as influential factors.
"If you're just looking at it from a siloed one perspective of just special teams, you're not doing your team a service," Blackburn said. "I think that's the number one important job for a coordinator is to say, 'hey, what is our team, what are we, do we need two yards, do we need to gain two yards and put them at the 28 or the 27 versus the 30 and is the risk worth the reward for what we are?' Some teams, it may be and for some teams, it may not be. Some teams may say, 'hey, our offense isn't getting it going. I want to bring it out from three or four deep.' I'm okay with the drive starting at the 23 or the 24 [yard-line], at the penalty but we have a chance to have an explosive, we have a really explosive returner X, Y, and Z. That's up for debate for everybody."
Blackburn notices that the league appears to be accomplishing what it wants to with a higher kickoff return rate and better starting position on each drive for offenses.
"Some of that's because the touchback obviously moved up to the 30 and you're getting a few more explosives past that 40-yard line and more touchdowns," Blackburn said. "So, I think a lot of those boxes are being checked of what the league was looking for. Maybe not quite everything that they expected, but definitely trending in the right way."
