Browns special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone sees the new hybrid kickoff format as almost an offensive play from scrimmage. He has employed coaching consultant Mike Vrabel to devise schemes that will forever alter the NFL kickoff play. (TheLandOnDemand)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Whenever NFL owners agree to a major rule change, they worry about “unintended consequences.” These are negatives they might not have anticipated. Often, they contribute to the rule’s undoing.
In the case of the NFL’s new hybrid kickoff rule, which is a monumental change in the way teams will conduct one of the sport’s most basic plays, the unintended consequence may be a positive.
Preseason games will be eminently more interesting. At least in this first season of the rule change.
That’s because special teams coordinators frothing at the creative possibilities of this new rule won’t be able to fully engage in their system designs until the practice games. No team practices special teams full speed, so the preseason games will be the first crack at seeing this new rule in action.
“You’re not going to want to show too much [in preseason], but you’re still going to have to see things and I think you’re going to see more than you think in the preseason,” Browns special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone said.
“I do. And I think for us, being able to have the joint practice against Minnesota [August 14-15] will be really helpful for us. And when we practice it -- and I plan on going at it a good bit in training camp -- we’re going to have to practice hard and we’re going to practice it a lot. So, we have to be on top of it and be ready for it.”
The basics
Because of previous tweaks of rules aimed to lessen injuries, kickoffs increasingly have become the NFL’s most boring play. Exciting returns have been supplanted by automatic touchbacks. Almost every offensive drive begins at the 25-yard line.
When last season’s Super Bowl between Kansas City and San Francisco resulted in 13 touchbacks on 13 kickoffs, the league’s competition committee finally took action. It called on a committee of special teams coordinators to come up with a solution to eliminate touchbacks and revive the kickoff return while reducing collisions and injuries.
The other alternative was to eliminate the kickoff altogether – and nobody wanted that.
Their solution is the hybrid kickoff rule. It was borrowed from the defunct XFL but is not an exact copy.
The rules have some nuances that will take time to digest. But the basics have Ventrone and every other special teams coordinator deliriously excited.
* Every member of the kicking team except the kicker lines up on the receiving team’s 40-yard line. The receiving team has nine players lined up between its 35- and 30-yard lines. The receiving team has two returners splitting the field.
* The kicker kicks the ball from his 35-yard line to a landing zone between the receiving team’s 20-yard line and goal line. The kicking team can not move until the ball lands in the landing zone or is touched by the receiving team.
* If the ball is kicked short of the landing zone or out of bounds, it is placed at the 40-yard line.
* If the ball is kicked in the landing zone and rolls into the end zone or is downed by the receiving team, it comes out to the 20-yard line.
* If the ball is kicked through the air and into the end zone and is downed, it comes out to the 30-yard line.
Because teams line up only five yards from each other, high-speed collisions are reduced and the entire strategy of the kickoff play will be completely changed.
The new rules represent a new frontier for special teams coordinators to strategize creative blocking schemes and return plays. Ventrone has said the play at times may resemble a play from scrimmage more than a typical kickoff.
Running backs may be more valuable as returners because of their innate vision of running lanes. Ventrone anticipates more long returns, and more touchdowns, because there is really only one level of coverage to beat.
Cross-field laterals, reverses, fake reverses – anything and everything can be in play.
The proximity of the coverage team and blockers should result in bigger players on the field – more linebackers and defensive ends, fewer cornerbacks and safeties.
Kickers may be exposed more than ever as the last line of defense because their teammates on kick coverage are lined up 25 yards in front of them.
Ventrone said, “We’ve actually talked to the defensive secondary coaches about getting with our [kickers] on some of the drills that they do. So, yeah, I think that you’re going to have to anticipate that those guys are going to have to make a few more tackles.”
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Ventrone and new Browns coaching consultant Mike Vrabel were teammates on the New England Patriots, where Bill Belichick stressed special teams more than any head coach. In his new role, Vrabel has assisted Ventrone in devising schemes to take advantage of the hybrid kickoff format.
Ventrone said players have actually volunteered to be put on the kickoff team because of the exciting possibilities of plays being made – not only potential touchdowns, but also forced fumbles on the coverage side.
“We’ve repped quite a bit of skill players, as far as the body types,” Ventrone said. “We’ve repped pretty much all of our skill players back there, receivers, even some of the tight ends. We’ve repped a good bit of the running backs.
“Everyone has really gotten more ball-handling than we’ve had in the past. And I think on the flip side of it, on the coverage aspect of it, you are going to see more defensive players, and I think that you’re going to see some bigger body types on that unit.
“I think you’re gonna see some more defensive players maybe wanting to get involved, because first off, I think that this play is gonna impact the game a lot more than people think. I think that there’s an opportunity for both the coverage team and the return team to have big plays.
“And, a lot of times guys like in the past, I would say you’d have some pushback on starters wanting to be on the unit. Because being on the kickoff unit in the past was hard because you’re starting to run, whether it was kicking off from the 30 or 35, that’s a long way to run. And then go right to a defensive play. That is hard to do.
“Now you’re eliminating the space of the run and there are a lot of elements of a defensive play in there. It’s an opportunity to get another tackle. It’s an opportunity to make another play, to get another turnover. And then on the flip side of that, obviously it’s another chance to make a play like an offensive play.”
This may be the most radical NFL rules change since the advent of instant replay. I’m actually looking forward to the preseason to see it in action.