Rules Analyst Breaks Down New Kickoff Rules Before 2025 Season

He is the contact for teams during the season if they have questions about officiating or rules, and he works closely with the competition committee, which Rams head coach Sean McVay is a member of.

The dynamic kickoff that made its debut last season was made permanent. The league moved the touchback line from the 30 up to the 35-yard line in an effort to make more kicks returnable. They do not simply want the kickers pounding the ball out of the end zone. The league is promoting kickoff returns.

Anderson said last year 33 percent of the kickoffs were returned. The league was hoping to get closer to 50 percent. Perhaps moving the spot of the touchbacks will do that. No team wants to surrender the 35-yard line if they do not have to.

One more kickoff change will apply to the setup zone for the return team off the 35-yard line. In the past, last year, only two players were allowed to line up off that line. This year, the league will permit three to line up off the line. You can only put one player from the sideline to each hash and one additional player between the hash marks. Essentially, they are dividing the field into three sections and one man can go in each section.

For onside kicks, the league moved the 10 players on the kickoff team up from the 35 to the 34-yard line to see if that increases the frequency of recoveries.

"The committee just wants to try that for a year, see if the percentages of recovered onside kicks gets up to a little bit more in the 10-12% range, which is historically where it's been and the league feels more comfortable," Anderson said. "The last several years it has been down around the 5% (mark). It's almost just a no-win play."