Changes to the spot of the touchback on kickoffs or the spot of the kick -- as well as potential adjustments to the onside kick -- are being discussed.
INDIANAPOLIS -- The NFL will consider modifying its year-old kickoff format this offseason by moving the spot of the ball on a touchback or by moving the spot of the kick itself, the co-chairman of the league's competition committee said Sunday.
The comments by Rich McKay, also the chief executive of the Atlanta Falcons, came after the committee held its first meeting of the week at the NFL scouting combine as part of the league's offseason rule-change process.
"If something is going to be proposed as far as modifications ... which would be the potential of moving the touchback and/or moving the kicker back, I think those will get talked about, you know, within the next 30 days," McKay said. "But it'll take a little while before we get everybody's input."
The kickoff format must be reapproved this offseason by the NFL's team owners, who ratified it last offseason on a one-year basis. That is expected to happen. The alignment fulfilled its dual mandate by raising the percentage of kickoffs being returned while bringing the injury rate on the play more in line with that of a running or passing play.
But the owners also could have proposed tweaks to consider when they gather late next month at the annual league meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. Those changes would be designed to promote even more returns. The spot of the touchback on a kickoff could be moved from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line to further discourage kicks into the end zone. Or the kick itself could be moved five yards back, making it more challenging for kickers to reach the opposite end zone. It's also possible both changes could be enacted.
"You'll have people that'll say both," McKay said Sunday. "You'll have people say one or the other. It's always easier to start with one or the other than it is both. And you want to have all of the health and safety implications or potential implications from either change. But I think it'll be one or the other, I would think. You never know. I know there's people already talking about, 'Hey, let's talk about both.' But I also know there's this thing called 24 votes."
Any proposed rule changes must be ratified by at least 24 of the 32 teams.
The competition committee met Sunday with a group of special teams coaches who contributed last offseason to crafting the format, in which the kicker lines up alone on one half of the field while his teammates line up on the opposite side of the field, only a few yards from players on the receiving team. The group is scheduled to meet Monday with NFL health and safety officials.
"The easier of the options to make sure that you're going to move the number up on return percentage, in my mind, is the touchback," McKay said. "Our kickers now in the game are really good. So moving the kick back, I don't know how much you impact that."
The competition committee also spoke to the special teams coaches Sunday about the onside kick. League leaders have called the onside kick a "dead" and "ceremonial" play because of its low success rate. Under the current kickoff format, a team must declare its intention to attempt an onside kick only while trailing in the fourth quarter. At that point, the alignment reverts to the traditional kickoff setup so the team can try an onside kick.
The special teams coaches believe the onside kick success rate could be improved with adjustments to the rules dictating how the teams must align themselves to begin the play, McKay said. But alternatively, McKay said he could foresee renewed consideration being given this offseason to a fourth-and-15 or fourth-and-20 alternative to the onside kick. That measure, which would enable a team to retain possession of the ball by converting such a fourth-down offensive play, has been proposed by individual NFL teams in the past without ever coming particularly close to being approved by the owners.
"I still believe it could" be considered again this offseason, McKay said. "I could see it because [teams have] brought it up before. That said, you have to get 24 votes. So you have to have other alternatives, one of which may be, 'Okay, should we tweak the way that they line up and see if we can get the percentage to move?'"
The committee spent two hours Sunday on potential further expansion of the list of plays that could be subject to the replay assist system, McKay said, and will spend more time on that topic Monday. It is scheduled to receive a presentation Monday regarding the possible use next season of an electronic system to measure first downs. That system still would require the on-field officials to spot the ball manually following a play before the electronic system would be used to determine whether a first down was achieved.
The push-the-quarterback sneak popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles was not discussed Sunday by the committee, McKay said, but he added: "I think it will be."