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NFL special-teams coordinators, players scrambling to learn and scheme new kickoff rules
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- NFL special-teams coordinators, players scrambling to learn and scheme new kickoff rules
The NFL threw special teams coordinators a curve with the passing of an experimental rule on kickoffs.
Jacksonville Jaguars coordinator Heath Farwell said it's been a process for both coaches and players as the rules, for at least one season, require an alignment in which the 10 players on the kicking team are lined up on the opposition 40-yard line, with a minimum of seven players on the receiving team lined up on the 35.
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The kicker tees up the ball, as usual, at the 35-yard line. He must hit a "landing zone" inside the 20 to the goal line (if the kick is short of that or out of bounds, the receiving team gets the ball at the 40) and any kick in the landing zone must be returned — hence the need for two returners.
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver/returner Devin Duvernay looks back for a pass during an organized team activity on May 28 at the Miller Electric Center. Jaguars special-teams coordinator Heath Farwell said Duvernay has "elite speed."
It's the rule that was used in the XFL in 2020 and Farwell said if other NFL special-teams coaches are like him, they've watched almost as much XFL tape as their own team.
"Most of us special teams coaches watch every clip of the XFL and try to learn from it," he said Monday before the Jaguars held their seventh OTA practice at the Miller Electric Center. "I've learned a ton but there's a lot more to learn. The biggest thing you have to embrace is it's different."
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Kickoff returns will increase, with more safety
Farwell said an alternative might have been kickoffs being eliminated due to safety concerns (collisions with players building up a head of steam) and the increase of kickers with huge legs who bang the ball out of the end zone with regularity.
Last year, only 21 percent of kickoffs in the NFL were returned. In the Super Bowl between Kansas City and San Francisco , Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and the 49ers' Jake Moody combined for 13 of 13 kickoffs resulting in touchbacks.
"The reality is this play is going to go away [without a rules change]," Farwell said. "It's important to the game."
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It's going to be a scramble among special-teams coordinators to figure out the rule and how to best slot the 11 players on both sides.
Farwell, for example, brought in one of his mentors and former Jaguars special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis to consult.
"It's a small fraternity [of special-teams coaches] and we all have our own friends in our own groups," Farwell said. "We want a good product. We want this play to be successful and we want it to be fun."
Jaguars hope for big plays from Devin Duvernay
The Jaguars signed veteran returner Devin Duvernay in free agency and drafted Keilan Robinson to compete at returner with second-year running back Tank Bigsby. Jamal Agnew was not resigned.
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Agnew flashed numerous times for the Jaguars in three seasons. He returned the miss of a field goal 109 yards for a TD (tying an NFL record) and a 102-yard kickoff return in 2021, and while he never had another TD under coach Doug Pederson and Farwell in 2022 and 2023, he was still effective on special teams and as a slot receiver, averaging 8.9 yards on 39 punt returns and 26.0 yards on 36 kickoff returns.
Agnew also averaged 10.1 yards per touch on scrimmage plays as a Jaguar, with six touchdowns.
"Ags was an elite player for us ... really good," Farwell said. "He is different than Duvernay. Both are All-Pros, really good players but Duvernay is elite speed. It shows up. One of the first weeks he was here he was running 23 mph ... elite speed, it really shows up."
Duvernay believes he will be an effective returner regardless of the kickoff rules and is eager to show his skill set in Pederson's offense.
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"I'm excited about it," Duvernay said of the new kickoff rule. "I think it will shine more light on the return game and give us more opportunities for big plays."
Duvernay averaged 26.8 yards and scored two touchdowns on kickoff returns for the Ravens and averaged 12.8 yards per punt return. But he also caught 94 passes for 898 yards, a 9.6 average and five TDs, and gained 219 yards rushing, 8.1 per attempt, and one score.
"The stuff after catch, the screen game, run game, being able to get the ball in people's hands and get them going," he said about what he likes about the Jaguars' offense. "Moving the sticks and running deep ... I feel like those are some things I'd love to do."
Will NFL coaches use non-kickers?
Adding an extra returner is just part of the scheme for NFL coaches. As teams get into training camp, other wrinkles may come up — such as the notion of using a non-kicker on kickoffs, since studies of the XFL showed kickers were involved in 25 percent or more of the return tackles.
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Kansas City special-teams coordinator Dave Toub said the team may not want to risk injury to Butker, who made 94 percent of his field-goal attempts last season and was 5 of 5 on attempts 50 yards or longer. Butker was 4 of 4 in the Super Bowl, including a 57-yarder.
It didn't take long for word to get around and Farwell said he has no shortage of candidates who want to kick, should he decide to save whoever wins the job (rookie Cam Little is competing with veteran Riley Patterson ).
"I have a bunch of guys who have nominated themselves, starting with [safety] Andre Cisco ," Farwell said. "I've thought about it. We will explore it. Right now, I've been so focused on learning the scheme, learning the details of it. We will look into it."
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What are the NFL's new kickoff rules?
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All kicking team players other than the kicker must be lined up on the opponent's 40-yard line before the kick. The place where the football is kicked (35-yard line) will remain unchanged.
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The 10 kicking team players cannot move until the ball hits the ground or the player in the landing zone or the end zone. The kicker must not pass the 50-yard line until such point, either.
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A minimum of nine return-team players must line up between their own 35 to the 30-yard line with at least seven players with a foot on the 35-yard line. A maximum of two returners may line up in the landing zone and can move at any time before, or during, the kick.
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The landing zone is the area between the receiving team's goal line and its 20-yard line.
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Any kick that falls short of the landing zone will be treated like a kickoff out of bounds and spotted at the return team's 40-yard line. The play will be blown dead as soon as the kick lands short of the landing zone.
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Any kick in the landing zone must be returned and any kick that is in the landing zone and then goes into the end zone must be returned or downed by the receiving team. The ball will then be spotted at the receiving team's 20-yard line.
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If the kick lands in the end zone and stays in bounds, the return team can either return the ball or down the ball, resulting in a touchback. The touchback will bring the ball to the return team's 30-yard line.
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Any kick that goes out of the back of the end zone will result in a touchback at the return team's 30-yard line.
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No fair catches.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars, other NFL teams putting in extra time to learn kickoff rule
