Tennessee Titans: What the Rule Change Means for the Special Teams Unit

The NFL might be in a lockout for the moment, but that hasn't kept them from making a few rule changes that should create plenty of chatter.

Whenever teams step on the football field next, they will have to adjust to how they conduct kickoffs and how they want to return them.

There are many elements in this new kickoff change, but the biggest one being that kickoffs will be conducted from the 35-yard line instead of the 30-yard line.

That might not seem like a huge change, but it actually is. Especially for talented kickoff returners like the Titans' Marc Mariani, who made the Pro Bowl during his rookie season for returning kicks.

Last season, Mariani averaged over 25 yards per kick return, which isn't too shabby.

Other great special teams players like Devin Hester and Josh Cribbs put their two cents in about their disappointment in the new rule, and they are definitely warranted.

This new rule change will likely decrease the odds of having a big kick return, which benefited the Titans' offense that was often stuck in neutral last season.

They will most likely have a brand new quarterback under center next season, so those big kick returns will be held at an even greater premium with an offense that will be looking to find its way.

The new rule change could've been a lot more taxing on kick return teams if they had voted against the two-man wedge, but the competition committee decided to spare that part of the rule.

There's no doubt that this new rule will affect the Titans kick return team in a negative way, but it could just as easily benefit the Titans' Rob Bironas and his cannon of a leg on kickoffs.

It will obviously be much easier for any kicker to make a touchback, and Bironas didn't have a problem kicking touchbacks before the rule was changed.

Bironas had a touchback 22 percent of the time last season, which will easily go up now that he'll be moved up five yards.

Don't expect to see too much of a difference in this new rule change. You may not see Mariani make it past the 50-yard line quite as much, but then again, you probably won't see the opposition starting past the 50-yard line nearly as much either.

All in all, this rule change was made for safety purposes, and you can't really argue with that.