How Teams Are Turning It Into A Weapon

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 21: Natrone Brooks #35 of the Atlanta Falcons returns a kickoff during the second half of an NFL 2025 game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on September 21, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

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It is always good to get a reminder that there are three assets to an NFL team, and Week Three delivered on that reminder.

Over the 16 NFL games, there were five blocked field goals, with two of them being returned for touchdowns, and two punt return touchdowns.

On the positive side for kickers, there were also 11 field goals scored from 50 or more yards out, with Will Reichard’s 62-yard field goal leading the group.

Outside of these highlight-level plays by special teams last Week, the most interesting aspect from this positional unit may be the kickoff unit, and how teams are attempting to weaponize it.

Why is this different, and why are teams attempting to do it now? Teams have the NFL rules committee to thank, or curse, for this opportunity.

Answering the first question, since we are in year two of the “Dynamic Kickoff Rule”, there is reason to wonder why we are just now seeing things we did not see last year.

To briefly go over the details of the rule, the Dynamic Kickoff replaced the traditional kickoff by requiring the ball to land in the landing zone (between the goal line and 20-yard line) to stay in play.

The only tweaks to the rule after its first year of implementation were that the touchback spot for a kickoff was moved from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, and the alignment rules in the receiving team’s “setup zone” were adjusted.

Now, a maximum of three receiving-team players are allowed in that zone, not on the restraining line, instead of the original nine players allowed anywhere in the 30-35 yard line.

These rule changes were put in place for player safety and to increase the amount of kick returns taken out of the endzone.

From 2023 to 2024, there was a 11% increase in returns overall.

These changes ahead of 2025 were to increase those even more, as now there is even more of an incentive to kick it where it is returnable.

With this comes the need for special teams units to adapt. Whether that was seen in terms of personnel being used on the defensive end or actual blocking schemes being taught, it was clear that whenever the solution was found, the copycat league would take it from there.

While 2024 seemed to focus on the ten members found on the line, the full offseason to reflect caused more teams to think more about the kicker.

For so long, the progression of the kicking position was limited to distance. Now, location is an issue.

And as we just saw in the Week Four matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, it is not as simple as it seems to land it in that middle ground.

Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland tried to land a more aggressive kick within the zone with less than 30 seconds remaining in a tie game. He came up just short of the 20-yard line, resulting in a penalty that placed the ball at the 40-yard line for Seattle.

Seattle went on to win this game on a last-second field goal, 23-20, but Ryland and Head Coach Jonathan Gannon were questioned after the game for this aggressive decision.

The aggressiveness was not due to location, because if Ryland were to kick it out of the endzone, it would only be the difference of five yards. However, Ryland seemed to kick the ball low and with a “knuckleball-like” spin, to make it difficult to return.

The knuckleball kickoff philosophy is a discussion that has been gaining more attention over the course of the season, with Los Angeles Rams kicker Joshua Karty being the unofficial pioneer of the ability.

The lack of traditional spin seen on a kickoff forces the returner to break down and secure the football, as opposed to the running start they typically get.

Karty’s ability to “master” this has made the Rams’ kickoff unit the best in the NFL, averaging just 21.6 yards per return from their opposition.

The Rams have gotten better at this as the season has progressed, with their last matchup against the Eagles being a difference maker in the contest.

The Eagles had an average starting position of their own 15-yard line, which helped lead to just 7 points in the first half.

As the season goes on, expect not only Karty to continue to hone his craft, but other kickers alike to follow a similar philosophy.

This will likely lead to some growing pains, like we saw from Ryland.

But, with fifteen more weeks remaining in the regular season, who knows what variations these kickers can come up with?

Why stop with a knuckleball? Kickers have a 100-year history of MLB pitchers showing how they can manipulate a ball; what can kickers do?

If still aiming to reach the returners in the air, any variations to the spin of the ball may cause not only difficulties in holding onto the football, but also variations to the flight of the ball.

The mentality of a golfer could be another example, adding a draw or a fade to their kickoffs.

As long as the unusual spiral of the ball would not veer its direction out of the endzone or out of bounds, this could be another variation worth experimenting with.

This increased difficulty of returning the kickoff could change the personnel we see used as the returners. Typically, due to the higher rate of injury and overall lack of return on the outcome, teams never utilize their best skill position players in these roles.

If muffed kickoffs become a growing trend, or the average starting field position continues to decline due to the struggle to field the kickoff, we could see more wide receivers used in this role.

Regardless of which direction this trend goes, it is going to make one of the least-respected aspects of the game a lot more entertaining to watch.

Even if the “kickoff revolution” fails in its evolution to become a weapon for kickers, the trial period over the next few weeks will be entertaining in its own right to see what sticks.