© Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane Expects Tweaks To New Kickoff Rule
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane believes the NFL's new kickoff rules need some tweaking, but is overall happy with the change.
The kickoff as we know it is no more.
At the NFL annual meetings earlier this week, owners overwhelmingly voted in support of a rule change that would make change kickoffs to the XFL model. Kickoffs will still take place at the 35-yard-line, but the other 10 players on the kicking team and nine on the receiving team will now line up just five yards apart from each other. Those players also cannot move until the ball reaches the returner.
The changes to kickoffs are designed to encourage more returns, while hopefully reducing injuries at the same time.
In the days following the rule's passing, many across the NFL have shared varying reactions. Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane recently shared his thoughts on the change, and while he's a fan of it, he also believes there will be a few tweaks to the rules sooner or later.
Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane talks to the media
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
"I mean, the Super Bowl, there were 13 kickoffs, zero returns. So if you're a fan and you're paying, you're like, 'Why are we doing this? Let's just spot the ball at the 25 and go.'" Beane said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show. "In 2010 they gave a stat that it was 80-20 returned, and now it's gone 20-80. I don't think you want that, I think you want it well above 50 [percent] returned, so I do like that rule.
"I do think it's gonna need to be tweaked... I think there's gonna be some tinkering, and potentially tinkering after a couple of games of seeing what happens in the preseason."
The Bills finished last season with the third-lowest touchback percentage at just 55.8 percent. Conversely, they also finished last season averaging just 20.5 yards per return, the seventh-fewest in the league.
So, the rule changes may be more beneficial for the Bills than for other teams, even if they end up being tweaked as Beane suggests.
