Tag: Rules Change

NFL banning 49ers-style ‘cheat motion’ before Saints can use it

The Saints are planning to use more motion this year, just like the Dolphins and 49ers. But a new NFL rule bans the “cheat motion” before they can try it:

Could NFL officiating go against the New Orleans Saints this year? The days of the Saints secondary leading the league in yards lost to penalties are behind us, but they’ll need to be careful rolling out their new offense in the fall. A system derived from the one that Kyle Shanahan has made famous with the San Francisco 49ers may have one less tool in its toolbox with a new NFL rules change.

As noted by NBC Sports’ Mike Florio, the NFL added a new sentence to Rule 7, Article 4, Section 2 of their official rulebook: “Any eligible backfield player who changes his stance does not have to come to a complete stop prior to the snap, as long as his actions are not abrupt (false start) or forward (illegal motion).”

While it’s been pioneered by Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, his former boss Shanahan has coined the term for this pre-snap movement technique as “cheat motion, because it’s cheating” by putting a receiver in motion behind a teammate, effectively creating a run route at the snap. It’s a big challenge for the defense to counter, and the results speak for themselves. So does the NFL taking action to level the playing fielld.

This could be a big deal for the Saints. They’re planning on using significantly more motion in 2024 — not just after the snap with play action, but before the ball is snapped by sending receivers in motion behind the line of scrimmage. Klint Kubiak was hired as their new offensive coordinator and play caller explicitly for his year of experience in Shanahan’s system, as well as their shared background in Gary Kubiak’s offense.

You might recall the receivers drawing a lot of fouls at midseason for false starts and illegal formation penalties. That coincided with an uptick in pre-snap motion that they hadn’t been coached on intensely. Chris Olave was flagged for a false start on one such play in Week 5, as was Rashid Shaheed, who was penalized for it again in Week 10. Tight ends Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau also picked up a couple of fouls for early movement during that time.

Kubiak’s new coaching staff must make this a point of emphasis, but you don’t need to tell them that. It says a lot that this rule change was discussed so little until Florio picked up on it. It’s not like McDaniel, Shanahan and their players have been complaining every day after practice. Maybe it won’t be that noticeable a change after all. This could be tough to enforce with such snap decisions.

Still, it’s frustrating to see the Saints arriving late to the party (they really should have moved on from Pete Carmichael and Sean Payton’s stagnant system a year sooner), but it is what it is. There are so many rules benefiting offenses these days that we’ll give this one to the defense. Ultimately it’s on the Saints to know the rules inside and out, and fully take advantage of what’s going in their favor as far as protecting passers and pass catchers.

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Rashid Shaheed is excited for NFL’s new kickoff format

Rashid Shaheed is a fan of the NFL’s new kickoff rules. He believes it’ll ultimately lead to better field position and more points for the Saints:

Rashid Shaheed signed a one-year extension this offseason with the New Orleans Saints, and his impact on the team will only grow with the new kickoff rule changes. He’s definitely a fan of the change and the possibilities that come from it. He isn’t the first Saints player to speak in favor of the new format.

Shaheed was a first-team All-Pro punt returner in 2023 and has been the Saints’ primary kick returner, as well, since his rookie year. He’s averaged over 20 yards per return each season.

The rules changes developed by his coach Darren Rizzi are meant to bring kick returns back into the game and generate excitement for the fans. Shaheed believes this will happen. He believes “the league wants to see big plays” and this is a good way to make those happen.

From a purely utility standpoint, Shaheed sees this as an opportunity to get better field position which in turn will lead to more points. So often, you’d watch a kickoff and expect a touchback. Beginning most drives at the 25-yard line felt like a formality. That feeling is washed away with the rule. The Saints offense could start at the 39-yard line or maybe the 21-yard line.

The risk of winning or losing the field position is a constant battle. Having a Rashid Shaheed on your side makes you feel more confident in these situations.

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Saints special teams ace J.T. Gray approves of new kickoff rule change

Saints’ two-time All-Pro ace J.T. Gray says the kickoff rule change adds excitement for fans and changes the value of special teams:

New Orleans Saints defensive back J.T. Gray is arguably one of the best players to speak on this year’s changes to the kickoff format, and he approves of the alteration. The two-time All-Pro special teams ace discussed the changes during an appearance on NFL Network’s “The Insiders.”

The NFL changed the kickoff rules to where the kicking team must remain at the opposing 40-yard line until the ball is caught or hits the ground. The kickoff has gone from one of the most exciting plays in football to a boring formality as of late. The change is meant to help the play regain its former glory by inviting more returns.

Gray may not be a returner, but he is a skilled player covering punts and kickoffs on special teams. On top of that, special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi pushed the rule change, so Gray is in a good position to speak on the tweaks. “In OTAs, we have been practicing that since Day 1,” Gray said.

Gray feels the adjustments will help with “changing the value of the special teams.” He makes a good point about how action on this play will get fans more excited. As stated earlier, the kickoff used to be a play fans looked forward to. Precautious safety measures removed the excitement of the game. Hopefully this rule change marries safety and excitement.

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How the NFL’s new hybrid kickoff rule impacts the Saints

Saints special teams coach Darren Rizzi was a key figure in crafting the NFL’s new hybrid kickoff rules, but how does it impact the Saints?

With the NFL competition committee recently approving the transition to a new hybrid kickoff model, one of the most pressing matters for New Orleans Saints fans is how this rule change may affect some of the players on the team.

Specialists like kicker Blake Grupe and return man Rashid Shaheed are a couple of guys that will likely have some adjustments to make in regards to the new rules. The whole coverage unit will need to tweak their approach, but few players make as great an impact as those who are kicking the ball away and returning it.

Before I get into this though, I’d like to first give a detailed list of the intricacies within the new rules as a point of reference:

  • The kicking team will kick off from its own 35-yard line.
  • 10 members of the kicking team will line up on the receiving team’s 40-yard line (25 yards in front of their kicker).
  • A minimum of nine members of the receiving team will line up between their own 30 and 35-yard lines (5-10 yards in front of the 10 members of the kicking team).
  • The receiving team can have zero, one or two players inside their own 30-yard line to receive the kickoff.
  • The play begins when the ball is either caught, hits the ground in the landing zone (inside the 20-yard line before the goal line) or is returned from the end zone. That’s when players can begin moving.
  • Any kick that hits the landing zone must be returned.
  • Any kick that bounces from the landing zone into the end zone must be returned or kneeled for a touchback (with possession going out to the 20-yard line).
  • If a kick doesn’t reach the landing zone, the receiving team gets possession at its 40-yard line.
  • If the ball enters the end zone in the air, the receiving team can return it or kneel it for possession at its 30-yard line.
  • If the ball is kicked out of bounds, the receiving team gets possession at its 40-yard line.
  • There are no fair catches.
  • Onside kicks are only permitted in the fourth quarter and must be declared to officials

Assuming you’ve read this through and have somewhat of an understanding of the procedures, I’d like to start off by detailing how these changes may affect someone like Grupe. He kicked off 91 times in 2023, 5th-most in the NFL, and he had 76 touchbacks, which were tied for 3rd-most. But his touchback rate of 83.5% tied for 10th among kickers with 30 or more kickoffs.

Surprisingly, there isn’t too much that changes for the young kicker in terms of distance and procedure. The kicker will be kicking from the same spot (35-yard line), which means the distance will also be the same. There is also no change in sending a kick out of bounds, as it will result in the opponent taking possession at their own 40-yard line. This is also a similar variation to the new rule on the kick not reaching the landing zone. This would also result in opponents possession at their own 40 but is something that we shouldn’t see very often.

With that being said, there is one specific aspect that will now be emphasized in regards to the rule change. In terms of touchbacks, there will likely be a strategy implemented as there is now a 10-yard difference between where the opposing team will be receiving possession, if the kickoff results in a touchback.

The opposing team will receive possession at the 20-yard line if the ball bounces in the landing zone, rolls into the end zone and is kneeled for a touchback. If the ball reaches the end zone through the air and is kneeled, the opposing team would now receive possession at their own 30-yard line.

This will be one of the most interesting decisions that teams will have to make, whether they want to risk a potentially good return kicking it in the landing area or increases the likelihood of a touchback by reaching the end zone through the air with the downside of having decent field position. These types of decisions will likely be determined by the level of threat that a returner gives you on a week-to-week basis, which is where I will be going with my next talking point.

That being Rashid Shaheed. One of the NFL’s top returners, who recently was selected to his first Pro Bowl and is a very dangerous weapon nonetheless. Shaheed returned 18 kicks for 384 yards last season, 9th-most in the league. With how dynamic a player that Shaheed is, how might the new kickoff rules affect his ability as an exceptional return man?

To carry over from the discussion about Grupe in terms of weighing the options for potential returns and touchbacks, Shaheed is the perfect player for this decision. Being that Shaheed has world-class speed and vision as a returner, he is likely one of the NFL’s exceptions when it comes to this strategy. Teams will likely ask their kickers to keep the ball in the air through the endzone to increase the likelihood of a touchback instead of a Shaheed house-call.

This rule change was designed to give returners more opportunities which it most definitely will, but specifically guys like Shaheed likely won’t get as many returns as an average-below average returner. However, since he will likely get more opportunities than in the previous two seasons, look for Shaheed to bring back a kick or two in the first year of this new style of kickoff.

Returners around the league should be ecstatic as their amount of opportunities will go way up along with their value as the men back deep. Should be an exciting addition to the game.

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Thomas Morstead reacts to NFL eliminating surprise onside kicks

The surprise onside kick was already in danger, but now it’s extinct. Saints legend Thomas Morstead is just happy to have played a part in its memorable story:

Surprise onside kicks were already an endangered species in the NFL, but a new rules change is pushing them into extinction. As part of a new hybrid kick return model being trialed in 2024, teams must declare whether they’re trying an onside kick — something that’s really just a formality after previous rules changes made the play obvious.

Thomas Morstead became a New Orleans Saints legend for executing the team’s surprise onside kick, the “Ambush” play, to start the second half of Super Bowl XLIV. So for him this was a poignant moment. Morstead expressed his gratitude for having a place in NFL history as part of New Orleans’ championship-winning team.

Ironically, Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi spearheaded the effort to change it while envisioning a model that will lead to more return opportunities (which you can read about here). Onside kicks were scarce in recent years, and successful recoveries were even more of a rarity, so this was a small sacrifice to make. As Morstead observed, “The game continues to change.”

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Saints’ failed onside kick vs. Rams was part of an NFL-wide trend

The Saints’ failed onside kick against the Rams was part of an NFL-wide trend. Teams are 1-for-31 on recovering them in 2023:

This isn’t a stat you want to be on the wrong side of, but that’s where the New Orleans Saints found themselves. Head coach Dennis Allen chose to try an onside kick in the final minutes of Thursday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams while trailing a 30-22 deficit; but the kick was not recovered.

And as observed by the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin, NFL teams are now 1-for-31 when trying an onside kick in 2023. The success rate has never been very high on these plays (and the kicks that were recovered were often surprise onside kicks), but it’s still mighty discouraging to see just how much of a longshot this tactic has become.

Recent NFL rules changes banned a running start for the kicking team as well as how many coverage players teams could line up before the kick, citing safety concerns; the result is that teams now have a 3.2% success rate when trying to recover an onside kick.

So maybe teams (including the Saints) are better off just kicking it deep and hoping for a stop. They’ll have to get creative and search for other solutions with onside kicks going the way of the dinosaur.

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Here’s when Chiefs will have to trim their 90-man offseason roster to 53 players

The NFL officially did away with gradual offseason roster cuts. Here’s when the #Chiefs will have to trim their 90-man roster down to 53 players:

After three years of trying gradual roster cutdowns, the NFL has voted to return to having just one roster reduction ahead of the regular season.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL adopted resolution G-4 which sets a roster reduction date and procedures for roster reduction. A total of 25 NFL teams proposed this resolution, including the Kansas City Chiefs, and it received enough support for approval.

NFL teams will now trim their 90-man offseason rosters down to 53 players on Tuesday, August 29, just ahead of the start of the 2023 NFL season.

The rules for the waiver claim period, reserve lists and everything else are virtually the same in this resolution as they were last season. The big change is that teams will no longer have to trim rosters from 90 to 85 players and 85 to 80 players prior to their final cuts.

This change has some benefits and it has some downsides. On one hand, it’s going to allow for a greater length of time for teams to evaluate the 90 players on the offseason roster. That could give a fringe candidate a little bit more time to make the team. On the other hand, the final preseason game likely won’t have a lot of players involved who actually make the team’s 53-man roster. Those games already didn’t feature many star players, but with an extra 10 players on the roster, it’s going to allow teams to rest whoever they please in that final game.

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Chiefs likely to support Colts’ proposal to change NFL overtime rules

The #Chiefs tried to get overtime rules changed after the 2018 playoffs to no avail. The #Colts will try again with a new proposal which K.C. should support.

Another NFL team is proposing that the league changes its overtime rules and the Kansas City Chiefs should be fervent supporters.

The Indianapolis Colts are the latest team to try and get overtime rules changed, submitting a proposal to the competition committee that would guarantee at least one possession in overtime during both regular season and postseason games.

After Patrick Mahomes never touched the football during the overtime period in the 2018 AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots, the Chiefs led the charge on a proposal to get overtime rules changed. They proposed a change to the NFL competition committee, one which sought to remove preseason overtime, the overtime coin toss and called for each team to get the ball on offense at least once. That proposal was eventually tabled until May and failed to come to a vote at the next owner’s meeting after receiving support from only the Dallas Cowboys.

The new support for overtime rules changes stems from another game during the AFC playoffs involving Kansas City. This time it’s the AFC divisional-round game between the Chiefs and Buffalo Bills that was subject to scrutiny. After a thrilling game in regulation, Kansas City won the coin toss and marched down the field to score and advance to the AFC title game. It was basically the exact opposite of what happened to them back in 2018. Bills QB Josh Allen had to stand idly by with no chance to touch the football in overtime.

Speaking after the game, Chiefs HC Andy Reid said he’d still support change even with things falling in their favor this time around.

“I don’t know, but I’m glad we didn’t change them as of last night,” Reid said following the game. “I had a chance to talk to Sean (McDermott) afterwards, and that’s I’m sure something they’re going to look at again, too, and I wouldn’t be opposed to it. That’s a hard thing, it was great for us last night, but is it great for the game, which is the most important thing that we should all be looking out for. To make things equal, it probably needs to be able to hit both offenses and both defenses.”

If Reid’s words ring true, you can expect the team to support the new proposal from the Colts. Will other teams come out in support of a change to the rules, though? That remains to be seen.

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11 Saints players who could switch to their college jersey numbers in 2021

NFL ownership is considering a uniforms rule change, which would allow Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas to go back to their college jerseys.

NFL ownership is currently mulling rules change proposals, having convened for a hearing on April 14 before meeting again on April 21 to cast their votes. One significant move comes on suggestion from the Chiefs, who proposed a rule to loosen the restrictions on jersey numbers. With rosters expanding and more numbers being retired across the NFL, it makes sense to make more positions eligible for underused designations. Per NBC Sports’ Peter King, the proposed uniform numbers qualifiers would be:

  • Quarterbacks, punters, kickers: 1-19
  • Running backs, tight ends, wide receivers: 1-49, 80-89
  • Defensive backs: 1-49
  • Linebackers: 1-59, 90-99
  • Offensive line: 50-79
  • Defensive line: 50-79, 90-99

That would include some dramatic changes across the league; all of the pass catchers and defensive backs could choose to wear single digits, and the big men up front like Quenton Nelson and Cesar Ruiz wouldn’t need the center/guard distinction to wear numbers in the 50’s any more. Ty Montgomery’s signature No. 88 might lose some of its uniqueness, though.

So which Saints players could revert to their college numbers based on this new rule, if NFL owners give it the green light? Let’s explore:

Chiefs propose rules change to loosen NFL’s jersey number restrictions

The Kansas City Chiefs want to see more players in single-digit numbers in the NFL.

The Kansas City Chiefs have submitted a rules change proposal for NFL owners to consider in the hopes of loosening restrictions related to jersey numbers.

According to multiple reports, the Chiefs have proposed that the league expand jersey number options for certain positions. The change would allow running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, fullbacks, linebackers and defensive backs to wear single-digit numbers, something that currently isn’t allowed by the league.

Here’s a look at the full list of proposed uniform number changes according to Buffalo Bills beat writer Sal Capaccio:

These are the rules on jersey numbers as they currently stand:

  • QB/P/K: 1-19
  • RB: 20-49
  • TE/FB: 40-49, 80-89
  • WR: 10-19, 80-89
  • OL: 50-79
  • DL: 50-79, 90-99
  • LB: 40-59, 90-99
  • DB: 20-49

Here’s a look at the full proposal from Chiefs Digest’s Matt Derrick:

It makes plenty of sense why the Chiefs would want to change these rules as they have a total of 10 jerseys that have been officially retired and one that is unofficially retired (Joe Delaney, 37). That can make things tough given the current restrictions, leaving certain players at certain positions with few options. The explanation from the team is that their proposal would allow players to change positions seamlessly without having to change jersey numbers.

The NFL’s restrictions on uniform numbers have always seemed a bit arbitrary. This would open things up a bit and allow some more variety amongst players. It’s tough to say if this change will have support among the league. I could see teams taking issue with current, established players opting to change their jersey numbers. At the same time, that could help teams sell more jerseys, so it could also be a popular proposal among teams.

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