Touchbacks will come out to the 35-yard line in the near future
When the NFL moved the kicking spot on kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line in 2011, the touchback rate of kickoffs jumped drastically from less than 20 percent to nearly 80 percent in a few short years. Making touchbacks come out to the 25-yard line in 2016 hardly swayed touchback percentage, which is why the NFL transitioned to the “Dynamic Kickoff” in 2024.
In the first year of the Dynamic Kickoff, returns rose from 21.8 percent in 2023 to 32.8 percent in 2024, still an improvement but not nearly the difference the league expected from the change. Now, the NFL is planning on making an adjustment to incentivize kickoff returns even more.
According to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the league’s competition committee is expected to approve a rule that will bring touchbacks to the 35-yard line, which will change the math on teams willing to kick “Dynamic Kickoffs” out of the end zone. That is a five-yard move, as previous touchbacks came out to the 30-yard line.
So if you’re hoping that Green Bay Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon can return to All-Pro form in 2025, this is good news. Nixon was only allowed to return 18 kicks last season after posting 65 returns the previous two seasons, when he was named first-team All-Pro in back-to-back years.
The NFL seems to be committed to punishing the touchback, which can only happen in the Dynamic Kickoff if the ball is kicked into the end zone, more severely each season until the return rate satisfies the league. I commend the league for trying to revive the play, even if it looks drastically different than it did even two years ago.