The Detroit Lions are still in the exploratory phase when it comes to the NFL’s new kickoff rules, but special teams coordinator Dave Fipp is giddy thinking about all the possibilities for the team.
“We’re trying to experiment as much as we can, obviously. And putting our guys in a lot of situations, both schemes, field position, alignments, how we try to play the play, mentality, mentality,” Fipp said. “Pretty much all of the above and just trying to figure out a lot of things. Every time we do an exercise, we do it a little differently and with different people in different places.”
As a reminder, the new kickoff is very similar to the one employed by the XFL last season. These are the key points of the new kick-off rule:
- All but the kicking team’s kicker must be lined up at the opponent’s 40-yard line.
- At least nine players from the returning team must be lined up between their own 30-yard line and 35-yard line (seven of which must be on the 35-yard line).
- No one except the kicker and returner may move until the ball is caught or hits the ground.
- A traditional touchback (reaching the end zone before touching the ground) results in the ball being placed on the 30-yard line.
There are other nuances to the rule, but those are the basics. (You can see a full official breakdown here.)
While the Lions are still exploring and keeping much of their strategy under wraps, Fipp revealed some strategies they’ve thought about over the course of the last few months.
First, it starts with the staff. With the old kick-off, long distance speed was valued as the cover team would have to run the length of the field and the returners would have a good 20 meters of empty field in front of them when they received the ball. Now, Fipp believes short-area quickness will be more important.
“It’s become more of a short-area game,” Fipp explained. “You have a guy lined up 5 yards in front of you (you can settle in a little bit and get to 7) but you’re trying to beat a guy in a 7-yard space. So I think he’s a little more speed-oriented, both in the coverage game and in the return game. I think the guys’ ability to move their hips, kind of like the secondary type guys, turn their hips, match guys in the second leg is going to be important.”
Kickoff rules also require that coverage and return teams be distributed horizontally on the field. In other words, teams cannot overload one side with an imbalance of players. As a result, Fipp noted that a directional kickoff may not be a wise decision, as it could essentially take some of his own players out of the game.
“They’ve spread the field with our lineup so it’s difficult to have an overloaded number of players at the point of attack,” Fipp said. “If you kick the ball to the left corner, there are a couple of guys who are 50 or 50 yards from the ball, laterally, and it takes them too long to get over the ball, so some guys can’t show up.” .
Fipp also made an interesting observation about the XFL game that was clearly disputed by the competition committee. In the XFL, only a single player was allowed to be outside the “Setup Zone” to be a potential returner. The NFL changed that to two potential returners, because some kickers in the XFL were able to throw a kick away from the single returner and bounce it across the end zone for a touchback at the 20-yard line. the 20-yard line) and the rebound through the end zone are placed at the 20 instead of the 30 for a kick that lands in the end zone.
Although he doesn’t say it outright, it appears Fipp intends to use both players as potential returners to avoid that.
“The XFL had a very deep returner. They could only have one man,” Fipp explained. “We felt like teams were just going to try to put the ball on the ground, which I think they’re still going to try to do (in the NFL) in some ways, but at least we can have two guys back there. “That will deter some teams from doing those things.”
Fipp also hinted that the team won’t be afraid to use players who commonly play offense or defense in the new kickoff. The Lions pretty much already did that anyway, but now with more at stake on the kickoff (and less room to run) Fipp believes it will be difficult to keep his most talented players off the field.
“It’s really your first defensive play and it’s not any harder,” Fipp said. “There’s always this, ‘Well, the guy’s playing defense, he shouldn’t be on special teams.’ Well, hey, do you want the ball at 25 or do you want the ball at 40? The bottom line is that no one runs more than 15 to 20 yards on a play, so it’s really not that tiring. It’s probably less tiring than a defensive play.”
All that said, Fipp was quick to point out that they are still collecting data. They haven’t committed to a strategy or philosophy when it comes to the new kickoff. The spring and summer (and probably even the early parts of the regular season) will be spent evaluating and adjusting.
“Right now we’re probably more gathering information and not necessarily having a firm opinion one way or another and just seeing where it takes us.”
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow @Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.