NFL's new kickoff rule proposal would change the onside kick forever

February 7, 2010. It's halftime at Super Bowl XLIV in Miami Gardens, Florida. The New Orleans Saints finished the 2009 NFL season with the best scoring offense in the league, but the first half has not gone as they hoped. After scoring just six points through two quarters, the Saints have to kick off to start the second half. If Peyton Manning gets the ball and drives the Indianapolis Colts down the field, New Orleans could face a two-possession deficit. That's the last thing the Saints need.

In the locker room, head coach Sean Payton makes the decision to wager the game on one play call: Ambush. "Let's go get this game," Payton tells his team.

After halftime, rookie kicker Thomas Morstead lines up to kick the ball off deep, but — surprise! It's an onside kick. Morstead uses the spike kick technique, kicking the top of the ball to send it into a high, bouncing spin to the left. The ball bounces out of the hands of Colts receiver Hank Baskett and Saints safety Chris Reis falls on it. Saints ball. The rest, as they say, is history: The game ended in a 31-17 Saints victory.

Those type of magical plays have faded away since the NFL implemented a new set of kickoff rules in 2018. As an unintended consequence, the new rules effectively eliminated the onside kick. Once a last-gasp attempt for a stirring comeback, the onside kick has become a lost art. For the past five years, the NFL has discussed several possible alternatives to the onside kick, ranging from reasonable solutions to outlandish ideas. So far, every proposal has stalled.

This offseason, several special teams coordinators presented the NFL's competition committee with a proposal that attempts to fix the issue.

NFL considering major rule change for kickoffs and onside kicks

The NFL is reviewing a kickoff rule proposal that would allow teams to attempt an onside kick only when trailing in the fourth quarter, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. The team would also have to declare the intention in advance, so surprise onside kicks would no longer be allowed.

The change to the onside kick is part of a broader change that attempts to resuscitate kickoffs as a whole. Prior to the 2023 NFL season, the league approved a one-year rule change that allowed returners to fair catch any kick behind their own 25-yard line and begin the ensuing possession on the 25-yard line. Only 22 percent of kickoffs were returned last season, and all 13 of the kickoffs in Super Bowl LVIII resulted in touchbacks.

Following the drastic decline in kick returns, the NFL tasked special teams coordinators with creating a rule that increases return rates without increasing injury rates. The goal is to revitalize the excitement of the kickoff game while eliminating the speed and space that caused high injury rates prior to the 2018 rule changes.

The proposal includes the following changes:

• The kickoff and return teams would line up on the receiving team's 40- and 35-yard lines, respectively.
• No player except the kicker and kick returner can move until the ball is touches or reaches beyond the 20-yard line.
• If the ball is kicked into the end zone, the receiving team begins their offensive possession at the 35-yard line.
• If the ball rolls into the end zone, the receiving team begins their offensive possession at the 20-yard line.

Before getting into the onside kick, let's recap the 2018 kickoff rules that led to this point.

The 2018 kickoff rule changes

According to league studies, concussions are five times more likely to occur on a kickoff than an offensive or defensive snap. Such an increased risk on a single play forced the league to alter kickoffs for player safety, especially as concerns and scrutiny surrounding concussions continue to mount. The rule changes prior to the 2018 season aimed to reduce the amount of full-speed collisions between the kick return and coverage teams.

While kickoffs didn't look much different to viewers, the chassis of the play was entirely rebuilt. The rule change prohibited teams from getting a running start before the ball was kicked.

• Eight members of the kick return team were required to line up within 15 years of the restraining line
• The kickoff team could not line up more than one yard behind the restraining line
• The kickoff team was required to have five players on each side of the ball in a five-by-five formation
• Wedge blocks were outlawed
• The return team was prohibited from blocking prior to the return team crossing midfield, which eliminated the "jump-set/attack" blocks that blindsided the coverage team

Onside kicks

Concussions on kickoff plays dropped by 35 percent in 2018, but the formation redesign made it more difficult to recover onside attempts.

The requirement for teams to have five players on each side of the formation had the largest impact on onside kicks, since kicking teams typically overloaded one side of the formation to gain an advantage in recovering the kick.

Before the kickoff alignment rule change, the onside kick recovery rate was 13.5 percent. The league's historical average onside recovery rate was 12 percent before 2018. Since the 2018 NFL season, the success rate for onside kicks has fallen to 5.6 percent.

Under the 2024 proposal, the kicking team would be allowed to line up in a six-by-four formation, with six players on one side of the kicker. The unbalanced alignment would give the kicking team a better chance to recover the onside kick. Since that alignment is illegal due to the 2018 kickoff alignment rules, it would be necessary for a team to announce their intention to kick an onside kick to legally align in the unbalanced 6x4 formation. As a result, the chances of recovering an onside kick could dramatically increase. Since teams would be kicking off from their opponent's 40-yard line, teams would likely attempt more onside kicks as well, considering the consequences of not recovering the kick would be extremely less significant.

While the elimination of surprise onside kicks may infuriate fans, it's worth remembering that there were only two surprise onside kick attempts during the 2023 NFL season. The loss of surprise onside kicks may be a worthwhile trade in exchange for more frequent and more successful onside kick attempts.

The idea was developed by New Orleans Saints special teams coordinators Darren Rizzi and Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel.

NFL owners can vote to approve the rule during the Annual League Meeting that begins on March 24.