For the 2024 NFL season, the league’s competition committee met Sunday and tweaked the proposed hybrid kickoff rule, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.
The proposed revolution to the kickoff has gotten a tweak, with touchbacks for balls kicked into or out of the end zone becoming the 30, not the 35. https://t.co/vQ77JAB0Fm
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 24, 2024
The proposed tweak of the 2024 kickoff rule would put the ball on the 30-yard line instead of the 35-yard line if a touchback goes into the end zone on a fly. He posted on X,
“The NFL competition committee met today and unanimously approved a tweak to the proposed NFL Hybrid Kickoff rule, making touchbacks that go into the end zone on the fly come out to the 30-yard line, rather than the 35, per source. The change provides kicking teams a less punitive option if they don’t want to take a chance on a long return. The adjusted rule proposal will be presented to owners for a possible vote Monday morning.”
Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com also reported the touchback for a ball kicked into or out of the end zone will be the 30, not the 35.
He also mentioned the proposal would lead to kickoffs that resemble the XFL’s kickoffs from the 2020 and 2023 campaigns, an effort to increase the number of actual returns while also decreasing injuries by minimizing high-speed collisions.
The proposal is awaiting to pass with approval from at least 24 of the 32 team owners, kickers would still kick from the 35-yard line with the other 10 players on his team starting at the opposing 40-yard line.
As per the proposal, one or two returners can be in the “landing zone” from the goal line to the 20-yard line, while the other players of the return team would be in the “setup zone” between the 30- and 35-yard lines.
Per updates, it’s unclear whether a kick that fails to make it to the front of the landing zone (i.e., the receiving team’s 20) will also result in the drive starting at the 30.
