NFL: Where Have All the Kickoff Returns Gone in 2023?

What has made special teams in the NFL not so special these days? For years, the league loved having kickoff returns as one of the three phases of football.

As a fan myself, I have enjoyed them as well. I especially love it when kickoffs are returned the whole length of the field for a touchdown, as I’m sure many other fans do too.

The NFL Rule Change

This past May, the NFL adopted a rule similar to the college game where if the receiving team fair catches the ball inside the 25-yard line, the ball will start on the offensive team’s 25-yard line. Before that, a returner could receive a touchback only if the kickoff went into the end zone.

This rule was enacted this season, but only on a one-year trial basis.

Pros

To this point, the NFL has gotten its wish, because the rule change has not completely eliminated the kickoff return. Through the NFL‘s first three weeks of the season, 80.9% of kickoffs have led to touchbacks, the highest rate in at least 30 years, and possibly an NFL league high.

Last year, the touchback rate on kickoffs was just under 60%, but remarkably, it was very low at less than 10% close to 20 years ago.

Despite leather helmets, bringing back the kick return in the game would be “a positive change,” says Concussion Legacy Foundation CEO Chris Nowinski. “Kickoffs, by far are the most dangerous play for the brain,” he also informed Yahoo Sports.

“You have players making 30- or 40-yard sprints and colliding at full speed. The players are moving faster than your standard play and the hits can come from more directions.”

There’s a loud cry by some NFL groups that the league is hurting the game and minimizing the importance of players who like to return kickoffs, by poking away at the existence of one of the game’s most thrilling elements.

Cons

While this rule may seem to appease some fans who want to make football safer, coaches are not happy with the league slowly decomposing the kickoff returns and for one of the league’s best coaches, it makes him irate.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid blasted the new policy just one day after being put into place. He said the NFL could become “flag football” if a majority of the hard-hitting is defaced.

Travis Kelce also took his head coach’s side two days later, projecting on his “New Heights” podcast that the “absolutely stupid” new rule would make the game “more boring.”

Former New England Patriots Pro Bowl special teamer and one of the game’s most vocal judge, Matthew Slater put the entire league on blast for coming up with this rule. He believes the NFL only cares if people will still tune in rather than actually caring about player and game safety.

“If we’re really concerned with player safety and health, let’s talk about some of the real issues,” Slater said.

What he goes on and talks about is the repercussions of artificial turf and the importance of the lack of reliable insurance needs for retired players.

Another con affecting the players would be job security for the kick returner. While the kick-returning position would probably never go away, slowly parting with it would cause an area of concern and a major shortage for these players, hence the NFL looking at that position.

Could XFL’s Exotic Kick Return Rules Come Soon to the NFL?

One thing is for sure, the NFL has been watching the XFL and their high success rate of returns.  The question is, what is their strategy to do it effectively and safely?

In the XFL, only the kicker and one fielder can move before the ball is caught. The other players line up five yards from each other, (the kicking team at the opponent’s 35 and the receiving team at its own 30). A touchback spots the ball at the 35.

It has seemed to work for them, as they have had a 90-plus% kickoff rate with some exceptional moments.

What’s Next

Being a fan who wants to see kick returns come back to the NFL, I would like to see the league adapt the XFL rules of kick returns.

It has proven to be safe and efficient as a majority of kicks were returned in 2020 and 2023, and very few players were hurt in the field of play.

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