Would the NFL's dynamic kickoff rule work in high school football?

Last week saw the new "dynamic kickoff" used in regular-season NFL games.

The new kickoff is designed to increase safety on a play considered the most-dangerous in football, while also incentivizing kicking teams to give the receiving teams an opportunity to make a return. It was first used by the XFL in 2020 .

With safety always at the forefront of conversations about high school football, could this dynamic kickoff eventually make it's way to local fields?

How the NFL's 'dynamic kickoff' works

The new rule puts the kicker on his or her own 35-yard line, with the other 10 players on the kicking team lined up 25 yards ahead at the opponent's 40-yard line.

Most of the receiving team lines up five yards from the kicking team at its own 35-yard line, with returners lined up further behind.

Everyone except for the kicker and the returners can not move until the ball lands or is caught by a returner either in the end zone or the "landing zone", defined as the area between the end zone and the 20-yard line.

This means the kickoff has to travel at least 45 yards.

Could it work in high school football?

One of the biggest differences between NFL football and high school football is the skill of the athletes, including kickers. So what works at one level may not necessarily work at the other.

"It's unique," Kinnelon coach Dustin Grande said of the dynamic kickoff. "I understand what they are trying to do. For us, it's a different beast. We don't all have kickers able to kick the ball to the end zone. Sometimes, teams are lucky to have kickers that can get it to the 10. We are getting dynamic returns at the high school level and I'm grateful that I've never had an injury on a kickoff since I've started coaching."

High-speed collisions can occur on traditional kickoffs because the players are running at each other full-steam from many yards away. The dynamic kickoff puts players much closer together to start the play.

The NFL has tinkered with alternatives to the traditional kickoff for more than a decade, fueled by proposals from Greg Schiano after Eric LeGrand suffered a several spinal injury on a kickoff during Schiano's first stint at Rutgers.

More: Former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand: 'I'm still here, I'm still fighting'

While New Jersey and other states still use a traditional kickoff for high school games, there's a history of rule changes to make kickoffs safer. When the NFL outlawed the "wedge play" − in which players on the return team align shoulder-to-shoulder ahead of the returner − that rule made its way to the high school level.

"I think it's a safer game now," Grande said. "I'm curious to see how this evolves in the NFL. I'm not sure if this is the final iteration and it might change some more. For me, it's still working on the high school level."

Kinnelon sophomore lineman Anthony Manna picked up the Colts' kicking duties this season. He said he sees the dynamic kickoff as limiting to how much the kicker can impact the play.

"I think the changes take a lot away from the kicker," Manna said." "You just get to kick it deep and that's it. There's no strategy to the kick anymore. You even need to declare an onside kick ahead of time. It takes a lot away from special teams."

Potential impact on college recruiting for kickers

Ricky Krautman, a standout kicker at Ramapo in the early 2000s who set a state record for most points scored by a kicker, is a coach at Pasacack Hills who also works with kickers and punters from across Nroth Jersey.

As someone who has worked with many kickers who were recruited by colleges, he has a good handle on what colleges are looking for in a kicker.

"Most, if not all, high school football coaches want their kickers to drill that ball through the back of the end zone," Krautman said. "You don't see every kicker able to do that, but that is certainly my goal with kickers and it's what colleges want to see."

The dynamic kickoff is unique in that it discourages kicks into or through the end zone. Touchbacks give the offense the ball at the 30-yard line, so the rule incentivizes kickers to kick the ball short of the end zone and try to stop the returner short of the 30.

Krautman said he'd like to try it out at a Pascack Hills practice one to see how it translates with high school players.

"I'm a fan of any change that leads to more people playing football," Krautman said. "It's a unique thing because college football hasn't made a change yet. Changing it for safety in youth or high school would make sense but colleges want kickers to get touchbacks and that would hurt the recruiting side for kids trying to kick in college."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Would the NFL's dynamic kickoff rule work in high school football?