Chiefs, NFL refs continue to prepare for new kickoff rules
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs and the rest of the NFL are learning the league’s new kickoff rules for the first time.
The new rule will see all 10 kicking team players other than the kicker lined up with one foot on the receiving team’s 40-yard line. At least seven receiving players must have a foot on the 35-yard line. Players not on the 35 must be in the setup zone, a five-yard area from the 35 to the 30, outside the hash marks.
Essentially, each team has a row of players lined up directly in front of each other on the 35 and 40-yard lines.
A maximum of two returners may line up in the landing zone, which is from the 20-yard line to the goal line, and can move at any time before or during the kick.
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All players in the setup zone can’t move until the kick has hit the ground, a player in the landing zone or the end zone.
A kick that lands in the landing zone must be returned. A downed kick in the endzone and a kick through the back of the endzone is brought up to the 30-yard line.
However, in a presentation of the new rules, veteran referee John Hessy mentioned that a 12th player could be added to the kicking team if the team needs a holder because of weather conditions. The player is only allowed to hold the ball and exit the game.
“They can’t do anything,” Hussey said.
“It would be a great fan experience. I don’t know, it’s going to be weird counting to 12.”
Hussey was adamant that NFL referees are also learning the new rules and it will take some time to get used to.
Additionally, if a player on the receiving team keeps his feet on the ground but touches the ball before it hits the landing zone, the play is blown dead and the ball is placed at the receiving team’s 40-yard line.
In the rules change video made by the NFL that was shown to the media, executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said the NFL had a 21.8% kickoff return rate, the worst in league history. There were also no returns in the Super Bowl.
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Vincent said the league wants the kickoff return rate at 30%+.
Penalties, like false starts, will likely arise as everyone navigates this new landscape of kickoffs in the NFL.
“We’re learning a whole new play,” Hussey said just minutes before he and his crew went into a rules meeting with special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
The crew, which has been at Chiefs training camp since Friday, will also get to officiate the Chiefs’ kickoff in practice on Sunday for the first time since the rule change. Hussey and his crew will also be the officials in the NFL’s Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, Aug. 1 between the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans.
“Our approach to this play is we’re gonna do everything we can to protect and preserve this play so it works,” he said.
“We’re not gonna try to over-officiate it, but we have to let it play out. It is honestly a work in progress.”
Toub echoed those sentiments when expressing that making sure the new kickoff is successful is the top goal for the league.
“Challenges are going to be if they call a lot of penalties right off the bat. [If] it looks like a crappy play, it’s gonna get tossed,” Toub said after practice on Saturday.
“This is a one-year experimental deal for the season. So we need it to be a clean play so we need to be working together with the officials early on to figure things out. Small little details of how to align, make sure we’re all aligned right. Offsides, that might be an issue early, holding. If there’s so many holding calls, it’s gonna look like a sloppy play. All those things will get worked out through the preseason and early in the season too. It’s going to be an ongoing deal.”
Chiefs kickoff personnel
Toub created a lot of buzz over offseason workouts when he mentioned that kicker Harrison Butker could be removed from kickoffs with the new rule. Kickers would need to be able to tackle even more so than in the past as they used to be the last line of defense on kickoff.
Safety Justin Reid and rugby star-turned-running back Louis Rees-Zammit have been practicing kickoffs in practice. Toub is still toying with different kickers but Butker is still the number one option.
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“Butker is going to be our main kickoff guy,” he said.
“Hands down. Because he can move the ball and do a lot of different things. He’s our most talented kickoff guy. Other guys that can kick off Justin and then Louis, they’ll be able to kick off and be able to cover. So you just want them to just get the ball into the target zone when you’re trying to pin them down there just with a good kick and you got an extra 11 guys covering instead of 10.”
Rees-Zammit’s best spot to make the active roster is with his play on special teams. Special teams versatility is how most players on the roster bubble can keep a spot.
“I want to see how he handles being tackled and blocking,” Toub said.
“I love him. I love the way he works. I want him to do well. So I’m looking forward to seeing him.”
Toub mentioned looking forward to seeing wide receiver/returner Nikko Remigio and rookie linebacker Swayze Bozeman out of Southern Mississippi as special teamers as well.
Rookies Bozeman and Curtis Jacobs out of Penn State are linebackers he’s looking forward to seeing along with safeties Tyree Gillespie and rookie Jaden Hicks who Toub already has high regard for.
“He’s a no-brainer,” Toub said about Hicks.
“He’s a four-phase starter right now.”
The Chiefs have a gang of players that are currently working as returners in the 90-man training camp but Toub named Remigio, Hollywood Brown, Mecole Hardman, Kadarius Toney, and first-round rookie Xavier Worthy as returners that he could envision at the position.
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