NFL Says Injury Rate on Kickoffs is Lower Than Expected After Offseason Rule Change

The NFL's changes to the kickoff rules this offseason are having the desired effect.

The NFL's executive vice president of public affairs and policy, player health and safety initiatives Jeff Miller told reporters on Tuesday that the league has only had two concussions and no ACL tears on kick returns this season, with that concussion rate being even lower than anticipated.

In the offseason, the NFL tweaked the dynamic kickoff rules, with touchbacks now granting the receiving team the ball at their own 35-yard line, rather than the 30-yard line like last season. The NFL was hoping to prioritize more kick returns after a 64.3 percent touchback rate in 2024.

The move has worked, with the league noting two weeks ago that 81.3 percent of kickoffs were resulting in returns. While that data has potentially shifted slightly since, most teams are attempting to kick the ball in the landing zone rather than booting the ball into the end zone.

"'Mission accomplished' would be the way I would describe it," Walt Anderson, the NFL's officiating rules analyst, told ESPN's Kevin Seifert on Oct. 2. "It has certainly brought the play back into the game, and it seems to be in a very consistent pattern."

When the NFL initially changed to the dynamic kickoff, the goal was reducing player injuries, namely concussions, while keeping the return in the game (in 2023, only 21.8 percent of kicks were returned). Last year's rules accomplished the injury goal, though there were still more touchbacks than desired. This year's slight tweak to the rules appears to have split the difference nicely, with the increased return rate expected to continue.

"I think that what it's going to be is what it is," Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels told Seifert early in October. "I don't see a decrease in the amount of returns that are going to be happening as the year goes on. You're probably going to see even more now as the weather starts to change. The ball gets a little bit harder. It's not going to travel as far, especially if you are trying to kick it out of these outdoor stadiums. I would really expect the return rate to continue."