The dynamic kickoff could quite possibly be a dud. if the owners are going to change that, today is their last, best chance to do it.
They’ll be meeting in Minnesota, with the primary goal of giving all teams (except the Packers, since they’re already publicly owned) the green light to sell up to 10 percent of the franchise to private equity funds. There will be a quorum present, which will allow them — if they choose — to change any rule they want.
The kickoff is on the agenda, but only as a discussion/update item. Still, if the owners decide to do something about it, they can.
The concern is (or should be) that, once the regular season starts, teams will choose to kick the ball out of the end zone and concede the 30. With more than 40 percent of the preseason kickoffs resulting in returns that went past the 30, why risk a long return? Bang it out of the end zone, and start the drive on the 30.
We’ve predicted months ago that, by the trade deadline, half of the league will be kicking the ball out of the end zone to start drives. It could happen sooner, especially if coaches aren’t interested in being the data-point guinea pigs with winning and losing on the line.
The easy fix would be to push the starting point to the 35. That’s how the rule was originally proposed.
Of course, the eleventh-hour shift from the 35 to the 30 likely happened because there wouldn’t have been 24 votes if the touchback point had been the 35. Which means it’s unlikely there will be 24 now.
Still, without a change there’s a very real chance that teams start drives on the 30, the same way that they started drives on the 25. And the dynamic kickoff will be, in many occasions, not very dynamic at all.
Technically, it’s not the last chance to change things. The owners could, in theory, do it during the season. But that would compromise the integrity of the season, with some games played under one rule and the rest under another. That’s why now is the best time to do it.
If they’re serious about bringing back the kickoff return, they will.