The NFL’s new kickoff rule will make its regular-season debut tonight. “I think it’s going to be exciting,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.
The NFL has adopted a new XFL-style kickoff format for the 2024 season. The new rule was applied in preseason, but it will make its regular-season debut when the Kansas City Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens in a nationally televised season-opening game on Thursday night.
Nobody is more excited for the change than Denver Broncos assistant head coach Mike Westhoff, a special teams guru.
“I think he used to use the analogy — there was a time where you had 18 or 19 plays that mattered in the kicking game, and then gradually that moved down to about 11 or 12,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said in June. “I think we’re going to be back [up to 18 or 19]. So look, if you coach a certain phase of the game, you want to coach plays that can affect the game; you don’t want to coach less. He had ‘X’ amount of time away. This week he reported. He sits in the front kitchen seat there waiting to talk. When I walked in, he had 15 ideas on this new kickoff.
“I think it’s going to be pretty important, and I think it’s going to be significant, especially in the first five weeks of this season. You’ll eventually see things move in a direction of success. In our league, there are no secrets. Anything that takes place on a game tape, takes place not only in our league, but it goes around the country now. It goes to colleges because you can purchase the All-22 [film]. So I do think it’s going to be pretty significant. For someone who’s wanting to be a part and have impact, yes. I don’t have to hear him say, ‘There’s only 11 plays anymore in the kicking game.’ Now it’s like, ‘You have plenty of plays now.’”
The new rule should, in theory, lead to more returns, which is good news for Denver wide receiver Marvin Mims, who made the Pro Bowl as a returner in his rookie season.
“[J]ust knowing our coaching staff and how they drew things up last year and what they were starting with today, I think it’s going to be a good play for us,” Mims said in July. “I think that’s going to be one of our hidden gems this year is the kickoff rule.”
Mims averaged 26.5 yards per kickoff return last year, a number he’ll aim to improve on in his second season.
“I think it’s going to be exciting,” Payton said. “It’s certainly new.”
The Broncos have set an initial 53-man roster for 2024. Here are ten takeaways after the team made 38 roster moves.
The Denver Broncos made 38 roster moves earlier this week to get down to an initial 53-man roster ahead of the 2024 season. After reviewing five surprises yesterday, we’re moving on to ten big-picture takeaways today.
1. Broncos kept 3 quarterbacks
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Denver coach Sean Payton wasn’t lying last week when he said he expected to keep all three QBs — Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson — on the 53-man roster. The Broncos really like their QB situation.
“Yeah, we think highly of the quarterback room,” general manager George Paton said Tuesday. “I really liked the process. I thought the competition brought out the best in really all of the quarterbacks. All these guys support each other, they compete and they work well together. We looked at last year [and] I think almost half the league kept three quarterbacks. With the rule changes, we think that number will increase. We’re glad to have all three.”
The NFL’s trade deadline this season is Nov. 4. If other teams lose QBs during the season, Paton might get calls about Denver’s QB room.
2. All but one member of draft class made the team
“It’s a credit to our personnel departments and our sports performance with the development of these players,” Paton said. “Obviously, time will tell as we get to the regular season, but we like the class so far.”
The only member of the 2024 draft class who didn’t make the 53-man roster is offensive lineman Nick Gargiulo, who has been sidelined due to injury.
3. UDFAs make the 53-man roster
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For the 20th time in the last 21 years, Denver had at least one undrafted free agent make the active roster. It’s three players this year: running back Blake Watson, linebacker Levelle Bailey and offensive tackle Frank Crum.
“The scouts play a huge role in advocating for these players after the draft and fighting for these players,” Paton said. “Frank Crum, we had on a Top-30 [visit]. We had Watson on a Top-30. … Bailey, we didn’t know as much about, [but] we liked him and we liked the athletic ability.”
Crum needs more time to develop, but Watson and Bailey could become instant contributors on special teams.
“What went into it is a number of things,” Paton explained. “We really like our depth at receiver, and we liked the depth at other positions on our team. We wanted to keep some other players at other positions. Special teams comes into play. Obviously, you have the new element at kickoff and kickoff return. There will be over 200 more plays. So it wasn’t just one thing. Tim did a lot of really good things. We wish him well and we’re going to miss him.”
5. Cody Barton wins starting ILB job
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It’s no surprise because Barton appeared to be leading the competition throughout preseason, but the veteran officially won the starting job on Tuesday when the team waived Jonas Griffith. Barton is now set to start next to Alex Singleton this fall. Denver might look to add more linebacker depth through the waiver wire.
6. Some players need more time to develop
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Many Broncos fans were surprised that offensive tackle Frank Crum made the 53-man roster after he struggled in preseason. He is a big, promising tackle, though, and Denver could not afford to risk having him claimed off waivers. So Crum made the active roster despite needing more time to develop.
“You’re always going to have players that aren’t quite ready — developmental players,” Payton said. “Can you get them through [the waiver wire]? Can you get them on the practice squad? Those are the discussions that you have in regards to roster management. How long is it going to take a certain player to develop? I think by midseason or do I think by the end of the season? Can we survive, if that player doesn’t play, with what we have?
“Those are all the discussions you have. The biggest guesswork we do — and it’s not just guess, we use analytics on certain positions where it clears more than others — is whether you can get a guy through. Those are the discussions we have, and there’s a lot that goes into it. A player that has potential — you don’t want to use a potential for a ready-made player. Again short- and long-term views come into play.”
7. The NFL’s new kickoff rule impacts roster
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The Broncos had the NFL’s new XFL-style kickoff rule in mind when they made roster cuts on Tuesday.
“I think it always plays a role, but even more so this year,” Paton said. “[Assistant head coach Mike] Westhoff tells me [there are] 200-plus plays on special teams, and so that factors into a lot of our decisions certainly.
“The defensive backfield — we had an injury. [Damarri] Mathis was a really good [special] teamer, so how do we compensate there? It’s a big puzzle and it’s roster management. Special teams are a huge emphasis and even more so, to answer your question, with the new kickoff.”
8. Some veterans could return on practice squad
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Among the final cuts for the Broncos on Tuesday were wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey and fullback Michael Burton. If re-signed to the practice squad, both players would be candidates to get elevated to the game-day roster in Week 1.
“Roster management,” Paton said when asked about the team’s last-minute cuts. “We’re trying to keep the best players we can for as long as we can. So you’re exactly right. There are a couple of vets who will likely be active Week 1. You probably know who they are, but certainly we already have a few guys who are already going to be on our practice squad.”
9. The offensive line depth is thin
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Denver’s updated depth chart has a huge hole at backup guard, a consequence of Quinn Bailey suffering a season-ending ankle injury this summer. The Broncos also don’t have much depth at tackle: Alex Palczewski was injured for all of last season and Crum is not quite ready for regular season action. That leaves Matt Peart is a do-it-all swing backup. Don’t be surprised if Denver looks to improve the offensive line’s depth today.
10. This is not the final 53-man roster
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The Broncos could make a few waiver claims today, and Paton hinted that trades are possible as well. Denver will also build a 17-player practice squad.
“[W]e’re looking at any way we can to upgrade our team on the wire tonight — or it could be a trade,” Paton said Tuesday. “Last year, we didn’t put a claim in, but we signed four new players to our practice squad [and] all four of those players ended up playing. Then we made a trade for Wil Lutz. There aren’t as many claims as you think — I think there were 24 last year — but you still can make some hay as you work the wire.”
We will be tracking any potential moves today on Broncos Wire.
Kansas City #Chiefs Dave Toub details plans for the new kickoff rule utilizing Harrison Butker | @EdEastonJr
The Kansas City Chiefs are preparing for the new season at training camp with various new procedures and personnel.
Chiefs Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub spoke with reporters after Saturday’s practice. He focused on the new kickoff rules this season and broke down his plans for the Chiefs, including personnel and hitting the target zone.
“(Harrison) Butker’s gonna be our main kickoff guy, I mean, hands down. Because he can move the ball and do a lot of different things, he’s our most talented kickoff guy,” said Toub. “Other guys that can kick off, Justin (Reid) and Louis (Rees-Zammit), he’ll be able to kick off and be able to cover, so you just want them to get the ball into the target zone, where you’re trying to pin them down there, just with a good kick, and you’ve actually got eleven guys covering instead of ten.”
The change in kickoff rules will require the kicker to be more involved in coverage and get physical. The other change will be the location of the kick, which will hit a specific target zone.
“We’ve learned that you want to try to kick the ball without a lot of hang time. (It’s) a low ball that probably goes inside the 10, but maybe skips into the end zone,” said Toub. “A ball that they can’t get to right away. If they catch a ball on a line drive at the 10-yard line, it’s gonna be easy for them to get it out to the 30 like that, so you have to try to kick it away from the returners if you can. Hit it into the target zone and skip it into the end zone, possibly for a touchback where you get the ball at the 20. That’s the ultimate goal on the kickoff.”
The process of adjusting to the new rules will be ongoing, and there are expected to be more penalties during the preseason and early weeks of the regular season.
#Chiefs HC Andy Reid issued a warning about the NFL’s new fair catch rule on kickoffs: “You don’t want to take too many pieces away or you’re going to be playing flag football.”
Chiefs HC Andy Reid was asked about the rule change during his media availability on Wednesday. He doesn’t quite know what to expect from it, but he’s not too keen on modifying the game in that way. He feels it could be a slippery slope that eventually leads to the NFL becoming an entirely different game.
“I don’t know, we’ll have to go through all that,” Reid said of the rule change. “My thing is, where does it stop? I mean, you start taking pieces and you know, we’ll see how this goes but you don’t want to take too many pieces away or you’re going to be playing flag football.”
The most awkward part about all of this is that the Chiefs were one of the 26 teams to vote to approve the one-year trial run of this new rule. So, there seems to be some friction between ownership, coaches and players as it relates to this particular change.
Ownership is clearly looking out for the NFL seeing this as an opportunity to potentially lower concussion and injury rates. Meanwhile, players and coaches are more concerned about the integrity of the game they know and love. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle, but right now there doesn’t appear to be much of an agreeable middle ground.
If this rule is adopted beyond the one-year trial run in 2023, it could cause some more strife at the expense of the special teams phase.
The New England Patriots were one of five teams that voted against a new touchback rule, which will allow the receiving team to start automatically at the 25-yard line after a fair catch, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer.
The Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions were the other teams that reportedly voted against the proposed rule change.
The interesting thing about this rule is that it was only approved for the 2023 season. That would have given it a chance to be re-evaluated in 2024, according to a report from NESN’s Zack Cox.
The vote on the kickoff touchback rule was 26-5-1, per sources. The Ravens, Patriots, Bengals, Bears and Lions voted against it, and the Raiders abstained. The proposal wasn't close to passing Monday. Roger Goodell lobbied hard for it overnight, and flipped a bunch of teams.
This rule could be a major shift in the special teams aspect of the game as we know it. One has to wonder if the Patriots will shift their line of thinking for 2024.
