2016 NFL Rules Affect Kicking Game, Player Safety
By Jim Vickers
The owners recently approved a short list of 2016 NFL rules changes and at least one will affect the kicking game and player safety.
Last season, the extra point spot (PAT) was pushed back to the 15-yard line. Heading into 2016, the placement for touchbacks will now be the 25-yard line. And just as last season’s change affected points, the rule providing an additional five yards for touchbacks will influence special teams’ decisions.
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Making the “point after try” a longer attempt last year resulted in it being less of a sure thing. After years of grabbing another beer or using the restroom during the play, fans had something to watch. Of the 1,217 attempts, 1,146 were successful and the league-wide missed conversions totaled 71 this past season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars were the NFL’s worst, converting a league-low 82.1 percent and only five teams posted a perfect 100 percent — New England, Green Bay, Atlanta, Baltimore and Dallas, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
Those numbers are way down from 2014, when teams converted 1,222-of-1,230 attempts, with all 32 teams missing only eight extra points total throughout the entire season. And 25 teams were a perfect 100 percent. It was rare to come back from the men’s room and find out a team had six rather than seven points on the board.
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Heading into the 2016 season, teams failing to return a kickoff will now be rewarded the 25-yard-line, instead of the 20. Only in America can you get a bonus for doing absolutely nothing.
Carolina Panthers’ kicker Graham Gano and New England’s Stephen Gostkowski tied for a league-leading 69 touchbacks in 2015.
The Oakland Raiders racked up the most yardage on kickoffs to the tune of 1,268 on 53 returns, an average of 23.9, and the Minnesota Vikings grabbed the highest average per attempt at 28.3 yards, scoring an NFL-high two touchdowns.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers surrendered a league-worst 1,201 yards on kick returns and were challenged the most, with opponents bringing the ball back 54 times. The San Diego Chargers gave up the most yards per attempt to return specialists at a 27.5-yard average.
As you can see by these numbers, playoff and non-playoff teams alike fall on the positive and negative side of the numbers.
But it appears that ownership is making another concerted effort to protect players’ well being with this rule change.
Recently, we’ve seen penalties, fine and suspensions directed at those inflicting head-to-head impact. Rules have been enhanced to protect defenseless receivers and additional chop block measures have been implemented to reduce career-ending knee injuries. Professional football is a violent collision sport, but the owners certainly deserve props for their attempts to better protect the players’ health in the wake of the CTE revelations.
However, given the varied statistics on kickoffs, it’s difficult to predict whether the 25-yard rule will help reduce or increase high-speed contact.
Coaches will now be pressed to decide whether or not they can tackle a kick-returner inside the 25 or have their big leg swing away.
The new spot may make it advantageous for return men to take a knee. On the other hand, many kickers can counter that by dropping the ball inside the five.
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Only 10 teams averaged 25 or more yards per return during the 2015 regular season. That means 22 teams averaged fewer than 25 yards and three of those fell below 20 (via Pro-Football-Reference.com).
The additional five-yard reward could make teams more inclined to force returns and thus more high-speed collisions just as easily as deferring to the 25-yard line.