ORLANDO, Fla. — For years, Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel has imagined, studied and pitched to colleagues the idea of reinventing the NFL kickoff. He saw potential in the XFL model, believing an adapted version could reduce high-speed collisions and increase returns.
The league agreed Tuesday with a 29-3 owner vote at its annual meeting.
Now, Fassel can do something else with the play.
Coach it.
All 32 special teams coordinators in the league face a novel undertaking this offseason, as they must devise how best to scheme and coach a play without direct precedent. Fassel told The Dallas Morning News he sees the Cowboys being set up for success when discussing a few personnel and strategy points.
To start, Dallas has a top-tier kicker and returner.
At kicker, Brandon Aubrey set an NFL single-season record with 99 touchbacks in 2023. His leg can exhibit more versatility under the new rule, which challenges kickers to place the football anywhere between an opponent’s goal line and 20-yard line. Hang time matters little since the play starts when the ball hits the ground or contacts a player in the landing zone or end zone.
Related:NFL approves major changes to kickoffs for 2024 season hoping to increase return rate
Teams have the option to align one or two players at returner.
“He can do anything,” Fassel said of Aubrey, an AP All-Pro first-team pick in his first NFL season. “He obviously bombed them last year, but if we ask him to coffin-corner kick it, he could do that. He could hit deep, short, right, left, high, low. He’s incredible. We’ve got the right kicker last year for a lot of reasons, but his value with this new kickoff is going to go up even more. …
“I would put him up against anybody in the league for his ability to hit any type of ball.”
Likewise, Fassel predicted that kick returners’ values will “skyrocket.”
Return attempts could easily double from 2023 to 2024. Any team that produces a touchback will cede possession at the 30-yard line instead of the 25 as in years past. No downed kicks or fair catches are allowed. That means more opportunities for Cowboys wide receiver KaVontae Turpin.
Turpin could see a handful of returns a game.
That introduces workload considerations for the speedster, who is listed at 5-9 and 153 pounds.
“It almost might be like running backs now where you have it by committee,” Fassel said. “You have your [work], Tony Pollard, and in the third series, Rico [Dowdle] has got to take it. [Kick returner] could be the same thing. ‘Hey, Turp, you take these two, and Rico, you take the third one.’”
As designed to reduce injuries, 10 players in kickoff coverage will sprint a shorter distance and reach a lower speed than in a traditional kickoff. Their new alignment is 5 yards from the receiving team. The change could prompt teams to give more special-teams reps to players with larger offensive and defensive roles.
Sam Williams is a Cowboys example.
A valuable special teamer, he projects today as a potential starter at right defensive end in place of Dorance Armstrong, who signed with the Washington Commanders. The old kickoff would likely preclude him from appearing at all on kickoff.
The new one might not, or at least as often.
“There is a very real element to the running part of it,” Fassel said. “It takes a toll on their bodies, in my opinion, more so than what this play is going to be. This is just going to be, ‘Come on down’ and boom, boom, boom, and you’re tackling. But there’s no strain on the legs.
“Sam Williams played every snap for us on kickoff. Normally, he wouldn’t play any [as a defensive starter]. Now, I think we spot play some of those guys. ‘Hey, this is a big one. We’re going to kick the ball in play, obviously. We need you out here to be the R3 spot. We’re going to kick you the ball, and just go jam it up.’”
Fassel wanted to dig into the play’s nuances for a while.
He can now.
