Tag: NFL kickoff rules

Mitch Wishnowsky should handle kickoffs for 49ers with new NFL rules

The 49ers should have Mitch Wishnowsky take their kickoffs this year.

Part of the reason the 49ers picked Jake Moody No. 99 overall in the 2023 draft was because of his ability to handle kickoffs. He had the leg to launch his kickoffs through the back of the end zone for touchbacks to eliminate potential big kick returns. Now with the new kickoff rules though, it may behoove the 49ers to put punter Mitch Wishnowsky on kickoffs.

The NFL’s new kickoff rules will ostensibly force kick coverage teams to play along a line of scrimmage in a way that could often leave kickers as a last line of defense more often than they used to be. Having a kicker that can’t stick his nose in and tackle will cost some teams points. The new rules also put the receiving team at the 30 for a touchback to incentivize keeping the ball in the landing zone between the 20 and the goal line.

Kansas City is already experimenting with putting safety Justin Reid on kickoffs to ensure they have a tackler on the field who won’t force them to play 10-on-11 on kickoffs. For the 49ers they don’t have to go that far because Wishnowsky, a former Aussie rules football player, can hit.

Exhibit A from his first preseason:

This is the kind of play that might start being required by kickers under the new rules. The coverage team and return team will line up five yards apart, limiting the amount of layers to a coverage team. One seam in that coverage unit could be enough to spring a long return.

If the kicker isn’t an active part of that coverage, those seams may be easier to come by. If the kicker is flying up like Wishnowsky did in the video above, it could shut the faucet off on what would’ve been a big return that puts the kicker against a returner in space.

Perhaps the 49ers are fine with Moody banging touchbacks still. They might also be fine with him launching kicks high in the air to give the coverage team time to get down the field. Wishnowsky should at least get a look though, particularly if kick coverage becomes a problem for San Francisco.

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Justin Tucker is bulking up and doing tackle drills for the first time since high school because of the NFL’s new kickoff rules

Justin Tucker is in the lab, folks 😤

The NFL’s new kickoff rules are about to change the lives of so many kickers around the league this season.

The league’s new (kind of weird!) kickoff rules emphasize a landing zone instead of having kickers boot the ball out of the back of the endzone.

That’ll lead to a lot more returned kicks and, with the kicking team’s players being lined up closer to the receiving team’s players, it’ll lead to more circumstances where the actual kicker will legitimately be the last line of defense on a play.

That’s why the Chiefs are considering benching their kicker on kickoffs and using a safety instead. For some kickers across the league, it’s a real “get with it or get lost” situation.

Justin Tucker is doing his best to get with it. The Ravens’ kicker said he’s been in the weight room a lot more than usual to try and adjust to the league’s new rules. He said he watched XFL film and noticed that kickers were involved in “20 to 25 percent” of the tackles.

Not only has he bulked up, but he’s also doing tackle drills for the first time since *checks notes* high school to get himself ready.

“I’ve mixed it up a couple of times. I’ve gotten in there. But, you know, I’ve got to get some more shrugs — get the traps going a little bit — you know, just to make sure I’m prepared for a little more contact.” 

Folks. This is not a drill. Justin Tucker is hitting the weight room. I can’t blame him — being the kicker who tries and fails to make a touchdown-saving tackle on a kick return has to be one of the most embarrassing things in football. It never looks good. Best to figure out how to tackle now than to be embarrassed by it down the line.

NFL adopts new kickoff rule, pushes back trade deadline

NFL kickoffs will have a new look in 2024

There should be more kickoff returns in the NFL going forward.

At the league meetings on Tuesday, owners changed the format for kickoffs to promote more returns.

It’s also a nod to the spring leagues, which already were focused on adding that element back into the game.

Per NFL.com:

The passed kickoff rule features new alignments for both the kicking and receiving units. A “landing zone,” the area between the receiving team’s goal line and its 20-yard line, would prompt action off the kickoff if the ball were to land in that sector.

Kickoffs will remain at the 35-yard line, but the remaining 10 players on the kicking unit will line up at the opposing team’s 40-yard line. The receiving team lines up with at least seven players in the “set-up zone,” a five-yard area between their own 35- and 30-yard lines, with a maximum of two returners can line up in the landing zone.

After the ball is kicked, the kicker cannot cross the 50-yard line and the 10 kicking team players cannot move until the ball hits the ground or a player in the landing zone or goes into the end zone. The receiving team’s players in the set-up zone also cannot move until the kick has hit the ground or a player in the landing zone or the end zone. The returner(s) may move at any time before or during the kickoff.

This is a one-year trial basis.

Additionally, the trade deadline has been pushed back a week.