A.J. McCarron '100 Percent' Believes NFL Could Adopt Some of XFL's Rule Changes

A.J. McCarron chose to sign with the XFL over returning to the NFL to play a backup role, and he's picked up on some things he believes the NFL could adopt from his new league.

The St. Louis Battlehawks quarterback "100 percent" believes some of the XFL's unique rule changes are good for the game, particularly the elimination of the onside kick.

"If you look at it, the NFL itself, a couple of years ago, changed the extra-point rule," McCarron told TMZ Sports. "They moved the extra point back because the percentages were almost 100 percent on making extra points, and so they wanted to figure out ways to make the game more interesting."

The XFL allows teams to attempt to retain possession after a score by completing a 15-yard untimed down, rather than executing a low-percentage onside kick. Only three onside kicks out of 56 attempts were recovered during the 2022 NFL regular season. The success rate varies from year to year, but only once in the last decade have onside kicks reached a 20 percent success rate.

While some would argue that's a good thing—teams that play better over the course of a 60-minute game deserve to win—it does take some excitement out of end-of-game situations.

By contrast, McCarron's Battlehawks came back from a 15-3 deficit with less than two minutes remaining in their Week 1 win over the San Antonio Brahmas after converting on the 15-yard onside play.

"I think that's an option that they can easily implement into their game and people wouldn't miss a beat with that," McCarron said.