Even in its 105th season, the NFL is still tinkering with the rule book.
There are a few new rules that will be introduced this season, which isn't unusual. But it will take some time for fans to get used to the new kickoff rule, which might be one of the most radical changes the game has had in a while.
Here are the notable new rules you’ll have to get used to for the 2024 season:
A major change to kickoffs
With most rules changes, even major ones, they don't change how the game looks. Moving back the extra point to make it tougher was a big one, but it looked like an extra point just from further away.
Kickoffs will look much different than what we've seen.
In an attempt to have more kickoff returns and make them safer, players on the kickoff team won't line up next to the kicker and run all the way downfield anymore. That’s adopted from the way the XFL did kickoffs.
The kicker will still be at the 35-yard line. The kick coverage players will be lined up at the opponents’ 40-yard line. The returning team will have nine blockers lined up between their 30- and 35-yard line. Then one or two returners will be inside the 20. The coverage players and blockers can’t move until the ball is touched by a returner or hits the ground.
Any kickoff that falls in the "landing zone" from the 20-yard line to the goal line must be returned. A kickoff that falls in the landing zone and bounces into the end zone must be returned or downed for a touchback to the 20-yard line. A kickoff that reaches the end zone on the fly can be returned or downed for a touchback to the 30-yard line. If a kick fails to reach the 20-yard line, the returning team gets the ball at the 40-yard line.
The differences will force kicking teams to consider strategies and presumably try to have more kickoffs fall between the 20-yard line and goal line.
What the new kickoff rule does is reduces the high-speed collisions between players who are running at full speed from their own 35-yard line. The NFL has said concussions on kickoffs were happening at about twice the rate of a normal play. Also, the kickoff has become a mostly ceremonial play because kickers have gotten much better and most kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. The league said last season had the lowest return rate in history. The NFL anticipates that there will be many more returns with the new rules.
The play itself will look strange for a while though. It’s a big change for longtime football fans.
Onside kicks change
There's another change to kickoffs, and it's to onside kicks. Teams have to declare their intention to kick an onside, which can happen in the fourth quarter and only from the trailing team. Then the onside kicks will happen under the same rules that were in place in 2023.
What that rule does is eliminates the surprise onside. Teams had used it on occasion, most famously in Super Bowl XLIV when the New Orleans Saints recovered a surprise onside to start the second half, and that play turned the game in the Saints' favor. The new kickoff rules prevent that from being a possibility. It's a sacrifice for the many kickoff returns that will be added back to the game.
No more hip drop tackle
The NFL eliminated the hip drop tackle after a few high-profile injuries on the play. The hip drop tackle was when a tackler wrapped up a ball carrier, rotated his hips and came down with all his weight, often pinning the leg of the ballcarrier underneath him. That can result in serious injury. Two seasons ago, a hip drop tackle resulted in a serious ankle injury for Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes during the playoffs. Last season Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews broke his fibula and had ankle ligament damage on a hip drop tackle.
That tackle will be outlawed and result in a 15-yard penalty. Defensive players have complained that it will make their jobs even tougher, and there's concern that officials will have a hard time getting the calls correct in real time. But the NFL was unwilling to see more offensive stars suffer crucial injuries on the play.
Expired game clock can be reviewed
It has gotten frustrating for fans of teams that see their opponent snap the ball well after the play clock reaches zero, then they give up a big play. Now that can be reviewed.
The NFL amended its challenge rules to allow "a replay review when there is clear and obvious visual evidence that the game clock expired before any snap." That should come into play a few times in key spots this season.
No more cheat motion
The NFL has taken away a play the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins and some other teams had started to use, in which they get a player running horizontally in motion and then they take off upfield on the snap. It was hard to defend a receiver who had already been running at full speed in motion. Pro Football Talk pointed out that so-called "cheat motion" should be eliminated with the addition to the rule book: "Any eligible backfield player who changes his stance does not have to come to a complete stop prior to the snap, as long as his actions are not abrupt (false start) or forward (illegal motion)."
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