NFL EVOLUTION

Here are the notable changes you need to know about in the NFL this season

Texans Tank Dell, Nico Collins
Tank Dell has expressed interest in returning kicks. Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images.

The NFL will have a new look this year when it comes to kickoffs.

Owners voted this spring to overhaul the kickoff, hoping to revive a play that had little action last season after most kicks resulted in no returns while still prioritizing player safety.

Owners also approved other rule changes, including banning the use of the “ swivel hip-drop” tackle that had led to several injuries and in an increase in the use of instant replay.

The new rules get their first chance to be used Thursday night in the exhibition opener between Houston and Chicago in the annual Hall of Fame game.

Here’s an explanation of some of the rules that will be in place this season.

How will kickoffs look different?

Owners agreed to a one-year trial of a radical change on kickoffs with a new system that borrows heavily from what was used in the XFL spring league.

The changes were made in hopes of limiting the high-speed collisions that made kickoffs so dangerous while incentivizing more returns after a sharp rise in touchbacks in recent years.

Standard kicks will still begin from the 35 but everything else will look different.

The 10 kick coverage players will line up at the opposing 40, with five on each side of the field.

The return team will have at least nine blockers lined up in the “set up zone” between the 30- and 35-yard line with at least seven of those players touching the 35. Up to two returners will be allowed inside the 20.

Only the kicker and two returners will be allowed to move until the ball hits the ground or is touched by a returner inside the 20.

Any kick that reaches the end zone in the air can be returned, or the receiving team can opt for a touchback and possession at the 30. Any kick that reaches the end zone in the air and goes out of bounds or out of the end zone also will result in a touchback at the 30.

If a ball hits a returner or the ground before the end zone and goes into the end zone, a touchback will be at the 20 or the kick can be returned. Any kick received in the field of play must be returned.

If a kick goes out of bounds before the end zone, or hits the ground or is touched by the receiving team before reaching the landing zone, the return team gets the ball at the 40.

Why did the NFL make the change?

Kickoff returns were becoming obsolete after a series of rule changes to make them safer over the past several seasons.

Last season led to a new low with just 21.8% of all kicks being returned as both kicking and receiving teams too often opted to avoid the risk of a possible return.

The return rate had a significant drop from 37.5% in 2022 and is down from 80% in 2010 before a series of rule changes on alignment, blocking techniques and the touchback eroded those numbers. The NFL estimates that more than half of all kickoffs will be returned this season.

The changes were put in place because kickoffs were the most dangerous plays with the high-speed collisions contributing to concussions.

The hope is the new rule will increase the number of returns without making it more dangerous as the new return will be more similar to a regular running play than the old version.

What's the best strategy?

Special teams coaches are still figuring that part out.

With coverage players not able to move until the ball hits the ground or a returner in the landing zone, hang time is no longer a key factor in kicks. Kicks that hit the ground in the landing zone and get into the end zone will be ideal since those touchbacks only give the return team the ball at the 20.

But the danger will be if the ball hits the ground or is touched before reaching the 20, giving the return team the ball at the 40.

For returners, the play may look more like a traditional running play than the old kickoff return, leading to more running backs as returners to capitalize on their ability to find a hole better than speedy receivers and bigger-bodied blockers and coverage players now that running 50-plus yards downfield is no longer required.

What about onside kicks?

The new rules eliminate the possibility of surprise onside kicks like the one that famously turned the tide in Super Bowl 44 when New Orleans stole an extra possession by recovering an onside kick to open the second half against Indianapolis.

Trailing teams will have to declare their intention to attempt an onside kick in the fourth quarter and those will be conducted under the same rules that had previously been in place.

The surprise onside kick isn’t a common practice, with only one being attempted all last season when Denver had an unsuccessful attempt on the opening kick of the season against Las Vegas.

Hip-drop tackles

The other big rule change was the ban on a dangerous type of tackle called the “swivel hip drop.”

NFL executive Jeff Miller said the tackle was used 230 times last season and resulted in 15 players missing time with injuries. It will now result in a 15-yard personal foul penalty if officials spot it on the field, or fines the following week.

A violation will occur if a defender “grabs the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms and unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.”

There were 212 unnecessary roughness calls last season in the regular season and playoffs so this could lead to a significant increase unless defenders curb their behavior.

Other changes

Some of the other notable changes involved tweaks to the instant replay system. Teams now get a third challenge if one of their first two challenges is successful — instead of both — and a few more types of plays are subject to replay. There were less than a dozen games in the regular season and playoffs last season when a coach used both challenges and was successful on only one.

Replay can now determine whether a snap got off before the game clock expired, can advise officials on the field on certain elements of roughing the passer and intentional grounding and can overrule an incorrect call on the field that a passer was down or out of bounds before throwing a pass.

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The Texans are back in action next week against the Dolphins. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

C.J. Stroud faced criticism in Houston's last few games as the Texans hit a rough patch after losing just two of their first eight games.

But the second-year quarterback remained confident and his strong performance last Sunday helped the Texans (8-5) to a 23-20 win over the Jaguars to enter their bye with a two-game lead atop the AFC South.

“When he is leading and playing the way he is playing, our entire team feeds off of him,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “I am excited for his second year. I think he is showing a ton of growth, he is in a really great spot for us physically, mentally. I really love where he is and I am excited to see how he comes back after the break.”

Stroud threw for 242 yards and a touchdown against Jacksonville to leave him ranked fourth in the NFL with 3,117 yards passing this season. That game came after he threw two interceptions in a 32-27 loss to Tennessee a week before for the team’s third loss in four games.

Those two interceptions brought his season total to nine, which are four more than he threw in 15 games a rookie. But the Texans aren’t worried about that statistic and believe he has grown in his second year.

“He’s made a lot of progress,” general manager Nick Caserio said. “There are some plays, like all of our players, that we probably wish he could have back, but happy he’s our quarterback, happy with what he brings to the table. ... Wouldn’t want anyone else leading this team.”

The Texans are in position to win their division for a second straight season despite dealing with several significant injuries on offense. Running back Joe Mixon missed three games early with an ankle injury and leading receiver Nico Collins was sidelined for five games with a hamstring injury.

They also lost four-time Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs for the season when tore an ACL in Week 8.

Mixon leads the team with 887 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns and has added four touchdown receptions. His work in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati has helped the team deal with those significant injuries to the receiving corps.

Mixon ranks third in the NFL by averaging 88.7 yards rushing a game and has had at least 100 yards rushing in seven games.

Stroud has continually raved about Mixon’s contributions on and off the field.

“He’s a servant, a helper,” Stroud said. “That’s ultimately what I want to be as well. Who can I serve and how can I help? That’s ultimately what the game of football is.”

While Mixon has been the team’s most important new acquisition on offense, Danielle Hunter has been Houston’s new defensive star. The defensive end spent his first eight seasons in Minnesota before joining the Texans this year.

He has helped Houston lead the NFL with 84 tackles for loss after piling up 15 this season, which is tied for third most in the league. He also leads the Texans with 10½ sacks to help them rank second with 42.

Hunter been a great addition to a team that already had defensive end Will Anderson Jr., last year’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. Anderson ranks second to Hunter on the team with 13 tackles for loss and 9½ sacks.

Ryans said this week’s break is much needed for a team that opened the preseason on Aug. 1 in the Hall of Fame game.

“It’s here and we’re going to take advantage of it,” he said. “We’ve been going at it for a long time.”

The Texans need to recharge this week with a brutal stretch of three games in 10 days when they return from their bye. Houston hosts Miami on Dec. 15 before a trip to Kansas City on Dec. 21 and a visit from the Ravens on Christmas Day.

“It’s Christmas and all that, but we can’t worry about that. All we can do is focus on Miami,” Caserio said. “And then when we get through the Miami game, then we kind of turn the page to the next. ... We’re either going to earn it or we’re not. Not to oversimplify it, but that’s the truth.”

The Texans will play those game without starting linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair after he received a three-game suspension for his violent hit to the head of Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, which led to a concussion.

Al-Shaair will be eligible to return for Houston’s regular-season finale against Tennessee.

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