2024 was supposed to be the year of the dynamic kickoff. The NFL changed the kickoff rules to do what they thought was a good thing to encourage more kickoff returns and had a setup they believed would do it.
They failed. The kickoffs were not dynamic and teams just opted to kick the ball out of the end zone and it was a barrage of touchbacks. So now, according to NFL Competition Committee co-chair, Rich McKay, the NFL is heading back to the drawing board to try and change things up again.
According to McKay, the league is considering moving the spot of touchbacks up to the 35-yard line as well as moving the kickoff back five yards to make touchbacks more difficult. Both are a move to de-incentivize teams from going for the end zone and force teams to return kicks.
NFL Competition Comm co-chair Rich McKay said league will look at both moving the spot of the touchback to the 35 yard line and moving the kickoff line back 5 yards in an effort to boost returns. Could be either/or situation.
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) February 23, 2025