NFL things I’m excited to watch, from new kickoff rules to Steelers’ sophomores and an intriguing DB shell

The Hall of Fame Game is tonight! We have football again! We did it!

Excitement, hope and curiosity are what make the NFL offseason so great. Whether it’s about a team, a unit, a coach, a player or even something league-wide, until the ball is in the air, we are all just left theorizing and guessing.

I wanted to touch on a few of those things that have me excited about throughout this NFL season, or at least things that I’m keeping tabs on. From a rule change to a defensive meta to a batch of sophomore players from the Steelers.

Football is on our doorstep so now it’s time to see if that excitement was justified. (It always is.)

Kickoffs!

This is something I’m going to keep a tab on starting tonight during the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, and keep that tab open as the weeks go on during the season. The new kickoff rules are going to be an adjustment for fans, and for coaches and players, too. The NFL overhauled their kickoff rules into a hybrid form of the XFL’s rules introduced during their 2020 spring season.

Here’s a refresher, courtesy of Yahoo Sports Senior NFL Reporter Jori Epstein:

The kicking team will still kick from the 35-yard line, but players on the kicking team will line up at the opponent’s 40. Those players cannot move, and the kicker himself cannot cross the 50, until the ball hits the ground or a receiving player in the “landing zone” (from the goal line to the 20) or end zone

The receiving team must have a minimum of nine players lined up in the “setup zone” (between the 30- and 35-yard lines) with a maximum of two returners lined up in the landing zone

Any kick that hits the landing zone must be returned, while any kick that bounces into the end zone from the landing zone must either be returned or downed by the receiving team for a touchback to the 20-yard line

Any kick short of the landing zone gives possession to the receiving team at its own 40; any kick that hits the end zone and is downed is a touchback to the 30; and any kick that…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-things-im-excited-to-watch-from-new-kickoff-rules-to-steelers-sophomores-and-an-intriguing-db-shell-194344996.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-08-01 19:43:44

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