Grossi: Robiskie Slipping Down Depth Chart
August 22, 2011Breaking NFL News: Oakland Raiders Draft Terrelle Pryor
August 22, 2011
The new kickoff rules stink for the fans and any team with a good kickoff returner. Mike Holmgren admitted as much when he said this weekend that he stood up against the new rules during meetings. Why wouldn’t Mike Holmgren be against the new kickoff rules which appear to chill the value and success of a great return man like Josh Cribbs? What is the Browns’ loss, will be someone else’s gain. Whenever a change like this occurs, it creates opportunities for innovators to see the future before it happens and take advantage. Granted, we have no idea exactly what kind of advantages can be gained from this rule, or just how big they will be. Still, I have a few ideas.
Eric Mangini loved special teams here in Cleveland. Bubba Ventrone, Blake Costanzo and Nick Sorenson were special teams beasts and they proved it on a weekly basis for Brad Seely’s special teams unit. If the new kickoff rules keep the majority of kickoffs from happening, it isn’t just great return men like Josh Cribbs who are affected, it’s also the coverage guys who have marginal value to the roster on the other downs.***
Let’s say you have a kicker that is really accurate, but can’t guarantee you touchbacks every time. Let’s also say you have 3-5 roster spots used up with guys who are best at coverage on the kickoff unit, but have limited value past that. A team in that situation would be better off signing a kickoff specialist that can boom the ball into the first row of the stadium on every kickoff and then re-purpose those roster spots for guys who might have more of a developmental future as every down positional players.
Instead of a Blake Costanzo, the Browns could keep a marginal receiver like Jonathan Haggerty or L.J. Castille who have been showing some ability in camp, but the Browns might only be able to stash on the practice squad if they’re lucky. For every Costanzo and Ventrone that the new rules hurt, it should help a player that might have more upside than a special teams specializing journeyman. The teams that figure it out first and take advantage will have healthier, more competitive rosters than their opponents.
Also, the new rule might present some new strategies in terms of stylized kicking. Some people have talked about pooching the ball high and forcing a return. If the time in the air can enable those defenders to cover the ball inside the 20 consistently, it will be worth doing. Maybe punching the ball low and hard toward the defense will make some sense with five fewer yards between the ball and the end zone. Maybe that extra five yards will increase the percentage chance of a successful recovery by the kicking team. Probably not, but it is possible.
The point is that nobody knows just yet. Much like the Wildcat took the league by storm a few years ago, someone will figure it out and then the rest of the league will find themselves chasing, and probably at a much slower, less competitive speed. From hearing the Browns’ brass talk about it, they appear to be holding onto the past and wishing that Josh Cribbs will find a way to remain relevant in the kick game. We’ll find out if that is a foolish stance soon enough this year.
*** Yes, I know Bubba Ventrone is currently the backup strong safety for T.J. Ward, but I think we can all agree this is less than ideal.
8 Comments
I’m expecting the first trend to be in the form of consistent pooch/super on-side kicks…make the kicker and punters practice pounding the ball into the ground for height and distance, with the goal to have the cover team arrive to the ball just as it reaches one of the up-men at the 25 yard line…3 outcomes
1.) Up-man drops the ball because he’s not used to fielding punts
2.) Up-man fair catches ball at 25 yard line
3.) Kicking team recovers ball
I’m sure there are several teams that have been consistently working on this, or have maybe already mastered it, but we won’t see any of this until the regular season…..no one is giving away their tricks when it doesn’t count.
I think the new rules could actually make a good return man more important – still less impactfull overall – but more important. With limited opportunities to return kicks and coverage teams that now are 5 yards closer, a great returner is now even more important to be able to take advantage of the fewer return chances. If you only will get one or two chances a game for a good kickoff return you better take advantage of it.
Onside kicks. All. Day. Long.
@1- If they kicker pounds it into the ground then can you fair catch that? and if they could kick it that far like that then why havent weve seen it before?
@REEP – are you talking about kicking the ball to bounce and go high after that (like the Northcutt onside recovery a few years back)?
if so, the return team cannot fair catch after the ball hits the ground (which is the main reason to have the kicker pound it into the ground to make it bounce up like that).
the issue with it is that it’s incredibly inconsistent in order to get it to do what you want every time and I don’t think they could get it quite as far in the air as you mention.
ahhh so you guys are right….hmmm….I’m sure they will come up with something.
@bobby…because I’m the first person whoever thought of doing that…..ever. haha I dunno…just trying to think of a skill I could perfect in my backyard or local HS field that could be my ticket to the big show!
If the point of the rule was to just reduce the number of returns and thereby reduce the risk of injury, then it is unnecessary. However, if the intent is to eventually elimiinate returns, this is pretty good way to do it. Just look at the trends of touchbacks as a percentage of kickoffs; it increases just about every year because players (kickers included) get stronger over time. They increased every year until 1994 when the kickoff was pushed back to the 30, and after the 1994 dropoff, they continued an upward trend. No matter what Josh Cribbs or Devin Hester says; there will be more touchbacks. They may might be given the discretion to run out kicks from deep in the endzone, less capable returners will not. It maybe makes the best guys even more valuable.
http://theresastatforthat.blogspot.com/2011/08/nfls-new-kickoff-rules-are-they-really.html