After the NFL has changed the way the kick -off was managed in 2024, some small changes were made. More specifically, a touchback to expel the ball from the goal zone will give the ball to the reception team at the 35 yards line instead of the 30 and last season.
Arizona cardinals The coordinator of special teams and assistant head coach Jeff Rodgers thinks that this will make a massive difference.
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“I would be shocked if the return rate is not more than 70 percent,” he told journalists before the first Cardinal Minicamp training on Tuesday.
Last year, with the initial change, the return rate of the kick -off “only went from 20 to 30%”, but that achieved the goals that the league wanted, a reduction in head injuries and soft tissue injuries.
The kicks had some other changes, but these are more subtle, such as the placement and alignment of the players before the kick.
Rodgers is satisfied with the changes because it will lead to more exciting football. For a while, it seemed that the kick -off would be completely deleted. This is no longer the case.
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“They want to play in the match, and it’s good for us all,” said Rodgers. “It’s good for players. It will make things more exciting … So you talk about the double of the quantity of competitive games in my opinion, 100 more competitive games per team per season. It is a lot like 50 more kicks cover 50 kick -off returns that you will come back.
Deejay Dallas, specialist in Kick Return cardinals, has an average of 30.6 yards on 15 kicks and marked a touchdown. His touch was the first of the new kick -off style and one of the seven alone in the league.
We will see how this new change has an impact on the cardinals in 2025.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona cardinals expect a sharp increase in kicks yields in 2025
