2024 NFL Offseason

[tBBP]

Chef Carthon still cookin' in Nashville...

 

Snatit completing trade for Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed.

 

Dude's somewhat quietly become one of the better DBs in the league and is still very young, so this is quite the time to go ahead and lock him up for a lil' while. 

 

 

[ManillaToad]

Tennessneed Titans

[MJWalker45]

The NFL has approved to change kickoffs to the XFL model:

 

[TBGKon]

The league also approved a doubleheader on Christmas Day, a Wednesday.  The four teams that play on Christmas Day will also play the Saturday prior (which will have a likely tripleheader)

 

 

[BBTV]

So the "onsides kick" is now a totally separate "thing" from a kickoff.  The cool thing about it was that it was sorta like exploiting a loophole in the rule, and could be done by surprise.  But now if you have to declare your intent and there's totally different formations, it's fundamentally different from a kickoff, and is essentially a special "gimmick" play that can be used to retain possession.  And when it's so premeditated, and with the rule changes of the past few years, it's basically complete chance that you'll get it as opposed to having a good play ready to go.

 

I'm all for player safety and if the stats show that the new kickoff is safer then ok, but there should still be some loophole to allow for an "onsides kick" within the new formation (though I have no idea how.)

 

Question though - since the touchback is now the 30, does the kicker need to pooch it to fall in the "zone", rather than use his full leg?  I do like that part - kickers have become way too much a part of the game, so anything to reduce their impact - whether it's pushing the kickoff back to the 30 (or even 25 based on today's kickers) or narrowing the goal posts is a-ok with me.

 

With today's kickers, if you get a touchback and start on the 30, you only need to get 27 yards to have a shot at a 60-yard FG, which is no longer a mind-blowing achievement.  It kinda defeats the original intent of the game, and the goalposts should be narrowed to reward teams for gaining yards, not just having a good kicker.  

 

 

[burgundy]

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

Question though - since the touchback is now the 30, does the kicker need to pooch it to fall in the "zone", rather than use his full leg?  I do like that part - kickers have become way too much a part of the game, so anything to reduce their impact - whether it's pushing the kickoff back to the 30 (or even 25 based on today's kickers) or narrowing the goal posts is a-ok with me.

 

Yes, the kicker needs to get the ball somewhere between the 20 and the goal line. If it lands in the endzone and stays inbounds, the returner has to either down it for a touchback to the 30, or they can choose to return it. If the ball hits inside the landing zone and bounces into the endzone, then downing it would be a touchback to the 20. If it lands short of the landing zone, regardless of bounce, the ball is placed at the 40.

 

I wonder if we'll see some attempts at low-angle, line-drive kicks to try and bounce them into the endzone. They don't need the hangtime anymore for players to get downfield, and the coverage can't even move until the ball is caught or touches the ground.

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

3 hours ago, TBGKon said:

The four teams that play on Christmas Day will also play the Saturday prior (which will have a likely tripleheader)

 

Uh, what the :censored:?

[BBTV]

8 hours ago, burgundy said:

 

Yes, the kicker needs to get the ball somewhere between the 20 and the goal line. If it lands in the endzone and stays inbounds, the returner has to either down it for a touchback to the 30, or they can choose to return it. If the ball hits inside the landing zone and bounces into the endzone, then downing it would be a touchback to the 20. If it lands short of the landing zone, regardless of bounce, the ball is placed at the 40.

 

I wonder if we'll see some attempts at low-angle, line-drive kicks to try and bounce them into the endzone. They don't need the hangtime anymore for players to get downfield, and the coverage can't even move until the ball is caught or touches the ground.

 

 

So the hardest sport to explain to anyone just got exponentially harder.  It's no wonder the sport isn't followed globally nearly as much as literally every other sport.  Way too much "if then then that, buttttttt if this and this, then instead of that, there's this, but this can be negated if the player does that, but only if there's 2 minutes or fewer left, otherwise that becomes this again, and this is nothing.  And now let's talk about tackling.   You can tackle like this, as long as you don't do that, but if you can do that, but if you only do it half way, otherwise this happens, but.......

 

I don't even know if I hate the play or not because I've never seen it, but I hate that the rules get more and more complex and difficult to follow every year.  I'd be almost embarrassed to have to and explain the rules to someone that's never seen it before.

[Cujo]

The new kickoff rule is fine. I get they're trying to cut down on injuries. But I can't recall the last time I saw or heard of a serious head/neck injury on a kickoff. Has to have been before the last modification to the rule.

[MJWalker45]

13 hours ago, BBTV said:

Question though - since the touchback is now the 30, does the kicker need to pooch it to fall in the "zone", rather than use his full leg?  I do like that part - kickers have become way too much a part of the game, so anything to reduce their impact - whether it's pushing the kickoff back to the 30 (or even 25 based on today's kickers) or narrowing the goal posts is a-ok with me.

Yup, this is the intention, to get more returns. One thing the XFL had was that if you dropped it in before the 20 yard line you'd get the ball at the 35 yard line. It bit the Defenders in the backside in the XFL Championship just when it looked like they could get back in the game. I don't know that the NFL setup the same penalties for falling short of the "target zone". 

[See Red]

2 hours ago, Cujo said:

The new kickoff rule is fine. I get they're trying to cut down on injuries. But I can't recall the last time I saw or heard of a serious head/neck injury on a kickoff. Has to have been before the last modification to the rule.

I think the league has said the rate of concussions on kickoffs is 2x any other play.  I imagine non-head injuries are more common as well.

 

 I’m good with this change, as long as onside kicks never become 4th and whatever where you run an actual play. 

[Cujo]

1 hour ago, See Red said:

 I’m good with this change, as long as onside kicks never become 4th and whatever where you run an actual play. 

 

Getting rid of the onside rule would actually be fine by me. Like someone said, it's a silly loophole for teams who have no business winning in the end

[BBTV]

Maybe instead of kickoffs they could do free kicks like after safeties? Then a team could either kick it off or punt it, and the “on-sides kick” would just be a special punt that either falls fast, or is so hard that it bonks off of someone’s helmet and is caught by the kicking team. 

[infrared41]

14 minutes ago, BBTV said:

Maybe instead of kickoffs they could do free kicks like after safeties? Then a team could either kick it off or punt it, and the “on-sides kick” would just be a special punt that either falls fast, or is so hard that it bonks off of someone’s helmet and is caught by the kicking team. 

 

We gotta get the gorilla involved in this somehow.

[McCall]

20 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

We gotta get the gorilla involved in this somehow.

The returners can only move once they catch the ball or the gorilla is within 5 yards of them, in which case they must run towards the gorilla, to make the catch. This will be known as a "Kamikaze Kick-Off". If they make the catch AND survive, they get the ball from the 50 yard line. If they only make the catch, the surviving team members get the ball from the 40. If the returner survives, but fails to make the catch, from the 30. If they fail to survive or make the catch, the ball is given to the kicking team, barring a touchback.

[Cujo]

9 minutes ago, McCall said:

This will be known as a "Kamikaze Kick-Off"

 

Even if they did, no chance in hell they'd use that name.

[BBTV]

40 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

We gotta get the gorilla involved in this somehow.

I heard there was an uptick in gorilla concussions (but maybe it was concussions caused by gorillas?) but either way, they’re now unionizing, with Dr. Zaius (a chimp, yes, but still an ape) as their chief negotiator, so in the event of a strike, we may need to find some scabs. 
 

Im thinking that since we’re tinkering with the rules in order to reduce concussions, what about deploying gigantic pythons or boas to patrol the deepest parts of the field, so they can wrap around runners that break through the secondary and bring them down? Or maybe once a game, you can let one loose against the offense and it can wrap and sack the QB?

Like maybe a few defenders hold it and then throw it over the line when the ball is snapped so that it can wrap the QB around the neck or waist?
 

 

[McCall]

15 minutes ago, Cujo said:

 

Even if they did, no chance in hell they'd use that name.

You don't know.

[BBTV]

1 hour ago, McCall said:

The returners can only move once they catch the ball or the gorilla is within 5 yards of them, in which case they must run towards the gorilla, to make the catch. This will be known as a "Kamikaze Kick-Off". If they make the catch AND survive, they get the ball from the 50 yard line. If they only make the catch, the surviving team members get the ball from the 40. If the returner survives, but fails to make the catch, from the 30. If they fail to survive or make the catch, the ball is given to the kicking team, barring a touchback.

What if he makes the catch but the gorilla rips him in half and carries his upper body (which still has the ball) forward into the end zone? TD for the kicking team? 
 

But remember, gorillas can only be deployed once a game (though I have to re-check the rules on this), so I’m not sure if kickoffs are the best place. 

[Red Comet]

4 minutes ago, BBTV said:

What if he makes the catch but the gorilla rips him in half and carries his upper body (which still has the ball) forward into the end zone? TD for the kicking team? 
 

But remember, gorillas can only be deployed once a game (though I have to re-check the rules on this), so I’m not sure if kickoffs are the best place. 

 

The best time to deploy a gorilla would be 4th and short. Can’t do a toosh push with a 500 pound ape who can bench press a Chevy truck in the way. I’m calling it the Kamikaze Kong formation. 

Edited March 27 by Red Comet