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1. Kickoffs will move from the 30-yard line to the 35. Expect more touchbacks and fewer returns.

2. Players on the kick coverage units cannot line up more than five yards off the ball. This prevents them from getting a longer, running start which should lessen the impact of some collisions.

3. Touchbacks on free kicks — ie: kickoffs — will bring the ball out to the 25-yard line rather than to the 20. Again, the goal is to encourage more touchbacks and less returns. Punts and other plays that go into the end zone — ie: fumbles through the end zone — will still be brought out to the 20.

4. If a player loses his helmet, it will be treated as an injury and the player must leave the field of play for one play. Expect to see more players buckle their chin straps in 2012. (In case you’re wondering, this rule does not apply if an opponent rips or “facemasks” a player’s helmet off.)

5. Offensive players in the tackle box at the snap of the ball who are not in motion will be allowed to block below the waist legally and without restriction. However, all other players are restricted from blocking below the waist with only a few exceptions (such as straight-ahead blocks).

6. Players will be prohibited from jumping over blockers in an attempt to block a punt.


Seems to me that I recall seeing a lot of helmets coming off Falcon players. Hope they buckle those chin straps and stay ON the field.

That last rule seems pretty dumb to me. Have all players lay in a circle around the punter. Nobody is allowed to try to block the punt as hopping over the player laying on the field would be jumping over the blocker.

In all seriousness, though, rule #6 seems completely pointless. Has there been a problem with people getting hurt jumping over the blockers?

These are all silly. Soon we'll have no kick-returns, after a TD or FG the other team will get the ball at the 25. Seems like they're trying to promote player safety and help produce more scoring. #6 is the dumbest idea of them all. What happens if a player does do this and the kick is blocked? Do they re-kick? Stupid.

#6 is dumb...the others are responses to the recent outcry re head injuries and the long term impacts of concussions. I tend to think these won't be the first rule changes we see in response to those concerns.

If they didn't need the onside kick to keep the games exciting at the end they would get rid of the kickoff altogether.

3. Touchbacks on free kicks — ie: kickoffs — will bring the ball out to the 25-yard line rather than to the 20. Again, the goal is to encourage more touchbacks and less returns. Punts and other plays that go into the end zone — ie: fumbles through the end zone — will still be brought out to the 20

???? If the goal is to encourage more touchbacks, reward the kicker for booming the kickoff by putting the ball at the 15. Why the 25? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Especially with the kickoffs moving from the 30 to the 35 yd line.

And Rule #6 is idiotic.

#6 is meh. It's rare you see it. I'm assuming they put it in because they don't want guys leaving their feet and having the personal protectors (which are now linemen or linebackers) having free shots or flipping players.

Isnt this the same as launching?

Falconfreak90 wrote:3. Touchbacks on free kicks — ie: kickoffs — will bring the ball out to the 25-yard line rather than to the 20. Again, the goal is to encourage more touchbacks and less returns. Punts and other plays that go into the end zone — ie: fumbles through the end zone — will still be brought out to the 20

???? If the goal is to encourage more touchbacks, reward the kicker for booming the kickoff by putting the ball at the 15. Why the 25? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Especially with the kickoffs moving from the 30 to the 35 yd line.

And Rule #6 is idiotic.

It makes sense if the goal is to encourage touchbacks.

If they put the ball at the 15 more guys would bring it out of the endzone because they figure they could get it past the 15 easily. Now that they have to get to the 26 to gain yardage it is rarely going to make sense to return a ball out of the endzone.

Especially now that they put the ball at the 35 so most kickers can easily reach the endzone.

Of course what this doesn't account for is now it will make far more sense for kickers to try and lob a high kick that lands at the 5-10 yard line, since this is now a shorter kick AND the returner will have to gain 15-20 yards to make this a net gain for the receiving team. I fully expect to see this strategy employed routinely by decent kickers.

You can't legislate kick returns out of the game unless you fully take KICKOFFS out of the game. Which, as was mentioned, you cannot do because onside kicks are such a built in strategy. I could see in the future, though, where kickoffs only exist in the final x minutes of a half or something stupid like that.

I know after a safety you have the option to punt or kick or at least in my day that was true. Is that true for any kickoff? If so, we could use Schmeidabush(sp?) to punt it inside the 10 on kickoffs. As Hammb suggested, you get the hang time and a good chance of pinning the opponent inside the 25. If the wind is favorable, I could see that being more effective than kicking.

You want to make it interesting? Reduce the number of guys on the field for KO's to 8 and set mandatory spacing requirements. Guys can't bunch...guys won't take a full head of steam and try to break up the wedge and returners will have a bit of room to operate. It would put a premium on speed on both sides of the ball and reduce the force of impacts on the field (more speed=less mass=less force).

You could keep the onside kick and make the process of a typical KO less likely to injure.

Siborg wrote:I know after a safety you have the option to punt or kick or at least in my day that was true. Is that true for any kickoff? If so, we could use Schmeidabush(sp?) to punt it inside the 10 on kickoffs. As Hammb suggested, you get the hang time and a good chance of pinning the opponent inside the 25. If the wind is favorable, I could see that being more effective than kicking.

I believe the rule is that you only get a "free kick" following a safety, not a normal kickoff. That's why I found the wording of the rule odd. I thought there was a difference between a "free kick" (your choice of how it's kicked) versus a kickoff (has to be off a tee).

If you always had your choice I have to believe that A) most teams would opt for a punt style kick anyhow due to more hang time, and B) everybody would use a rugby style punt for onside kicks because it should be easier to control.

I could be wrong, but this is my understanding of the rule.

I believe the rules classify them as:

"Free Kicks" -- those after a score or to start a half, and which can be possessed by either team after going 10 yards; Only those free kicks after a safety can be put in play via punt.

"Scrimmage Kicks" -- those that are part of a scrimmage play and are recoverable by the kicking team behind the line of scrimmage or if touched by the receiving team outside the expanded neutral zone.

To add to the quirky kicking discussion, I think that you can still legally attempt "drop kick" at any point during play and split the uprights for 3 points.

People may remember Doug Flutie attempting a drop kick for a PAT but I'm pretty sure you can be running down the field and attempt it and as long as your point of contact with your foot and the ground are simultaneous and it goes through the uprights it is worth 3 points- a holdover rule from when the game evolved from rugby.

Of course I could be imagining this.

They changed the rule a few years ago, and now a drop-kick for field-goal or PAT has to be from behind the line.

I believe this is true for all levels now, HS, NCAA and NFL.