The NFL has been trying to cut down on the number of kickoff returns for several years now, and it had to be happy with the results it saw during Week 1 of the 2023 season.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, the kickoff return rate in the first 16 games of the season was only 20.5 percent, the lowest mark for any week dating back to the 2000 season. The league and ESPN have no official data prior to 2000. Still, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert speculates it is entirely possible it is the lowest kickoff return rate of any week in NFL history.
The NFL has made numerous rule changes over the years to give teams incentive to not return the ball, from moving the kickoff location to the 35-yard line to moving touchbacks to the 25-yard line, to the latest rule change that allows teams to fair catch kickoffs in the field of play and begin their next season at the 25.
The fair catch rule also does not seem to be the primary driver of the lack of returns, either.
Only one fair catch was utilized this week, while only one team used it during the entirety of the preseason.
But the lack of returns is still an eye-opening number.
Kickoff returns are regarded as one of the most dangerous plays in football with one of the highest injury rates.
Special teams coaches and special teams players are understandably not huge fans of the changes given how much it impacts their jobs, but the league seems fully committed to reducing the number of returns that we see. It is entirely possible that at some point in the future, the NFL is a game that no longer has kickoffs of any kind, or uses a kickoff approach that is dramatically different from what we see now.
One potential idea is the XFL’s new kickoff rule that has the special teams’ units line up five yards from each other to reduce the number of high-impact collisions that happen.