Kickoffs and Kitchen Ranges: How The Dynamic Kickoff is Changing Kickers, Rosters and End-of-Game Strategy

Kevin Fielder dove deep into the dynamic kickoff and the numbers that prove that something is different this year. How does the kickoff change things for NFL teams and why is it like a kitchen range?

Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

The Great Exhibition of 1851, held in London’s Hyde Park, is widely considered the first world exposition. And when Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, opened the doors of the newly-built Crystal Palace to over 25 countries, some condemned the Americans’ display as unfinished and rough.

However, the Morning Post, a London-based newspaper, complimented the display, writing that the exhibit “contains several things that are new to this country, and might be adopted with advantage.” The paper was particularly impressed with the Americans’ kitchen ranges, writing that British manufacturers “may take some useful hints from the specimens sent for exhibition from the United States.”

Since the introduction of alternate football leagues, the NFL has treated them similarly to how most of the British media treated American inventions. While the XFL, USFL and UFL are considered neglected stepchildren to the ever-powerful NFL, mocked for their unique rules, the NFL has often taken parts of those rules for its own product (like coaches’ challenges!).

This season, the NFL has done it again, taking hints from the XFL’s kickoff to form its own, which has changed the way teams are thinking.

The History of the Dynamic Kickoff

During the 2023 NFL season, NFL teams had no interest in tempting the Football Gods with potential explosive returns on kickoffs. That season, only 21.8% of kickoffs resulted in returns, a decrease of almost 16 percentage points from the 2022 season. The 73.0% touchback rate in 2023 was also the highest in NFL history.

While 2023 was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, kickoffs were trending towards becoming boring and obsolete for a while. Between rules to promote player safety, including the elimination of the wedge in 2009 and blindside block in 2019, and the continued evolution of offensive football, returns became an afterthought.

Taking inspiration from the XFL’s unique kickoffs, the committee and special teams coordinators came up with a brand new kickoff format that would, in an ideal world, promote kickoff returns and keep players safe. During the 2024 Annual Meetings, the new kickoff format, which would later be dubbed the “dynamic kickoff”, was approved by league owners 29-to-3.

While the new format led to more kicks in its debut season, it didn’t live up to its name as a “dynamic” play. A significant catalyst for this was that a touchback resulted in offenses getting the ball at the 30-yard line instead of the 25. A five-yard difference in field position wasn’t seen as a deterrent to kicking the ball into play, especially when a potential return could flip an entire game on its head. As a result, the starting field position for kickoffs during the 2024 season was the 30.9-yard line.

Knowing they needed to force teams to kick the ball into play, the Competition Committee introduced “phase 2” of the dynamic kickoff this offseason, moving the touchback to the 35-yard line. Such a minor tweak was massive, as kickers have become automatic from long distances on field goals, and offenses are as dynamic as ever.

How does all this work?

The design of the dynamic kickoff is to make the play resemble a typical play from scrimmage as much as possible by lining players up closer to each other to restrict space and keep players safe. Now, the kicking and returning team lines their players up five yards apart, with neither side allowed to move until the ball is fielded or bounces.

For kickers, the ball ideally lands in the “landing zone”, which extends from the receiving team’s goal line to its 20-yard line. Kicks that land in the zone must be returned or downed and placed at the 20-yard line. If a kick lands short of the zone, it’s treated as a kickoff out of bounds with a ball spotted at the 40-yard line. If a kick lands in the end zone, it can be downed for a touchback to the 35-yard line. Kicks that land in the end zone and roll out of bounds — or are kicked through the end zone — also engender a 35-yard touchback.

The Special Teams Scheme Revolution

Whether calculated or inadvertent, the NFL’s rule changes also prompted the first real special teams scheme revolution in a long time.

While offensive and defensive coordinators flex their brain muscles every Sunday to gain a competitive edge, specific rules on special teams made significant scheme tweaks challenging. For example, college coaches use punt teams as an opportunity to get creative and gain any minor advantage. However, the NFL has strict rules on where players can be aligned in punt coverage, making unique formations impossible.

With NFL teams needing to kick the ball inside the landing zone, special teams coordinators have had to get creative in approaching such a new format. As a result, NFL teams are beginning to showcase their inventions in a way that closely resembles The Great Exhibition.

The Knuckleball Kick

Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro was a five-time All-Star in his 24-season career, mainly because of his ability to keep batters looking silly with his knuckleball. While the knuckleball is on the brink of extinction in modern-day baseball, Los Angeles Rams kicker Josh Karty and others have reintroduced the concept into football.