Brant Boyer and the New York Jets got their first look at the NFL’s new kickoff
While most NFL fans probably didn’t give a hoot about Tyson Bagent’s Chicago Bears squaring off against Davis Mills’ Houston Texans in the Hall of Fame Game, I can guarantee that every NFL coaching staff was fixated on Canton last night. Why? Well, it was the debut of the NFL’s radically overhauled kickoff system.
If you are unfamiliar with the new rules, this video provides a strong explanation.
Everything you need to know about the new Dynamic Kickoff before seeing it in action at the HOF Game. ✍️ (via @MaxBrowne4)
📺: @ProFootballHOF Game — Thursday 8pm ET on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/brr99Nb246— NFL (@NFL) July 29, 2024
New York Jets special teams coordinator Brant Boyer was surely one of the many coaches glued to their televisions on Thursday night.
Boyer, who has been the Jets’ special teams coordinator since 2016, enjoyed plenty of success in the old kickoff system. He coached two kickoff returners to All-Pro honors: Andre Roberts (2018) and Braxton Berrios (2021).
Boyer also had success at coaching up his unit to thwart opposing kickoff returns. The Jets ranked top-five in fewest yards allowed per kickoff return in each of the past three seasons, including No. 1 finishes in 2021 and 2023. New York has not allowed a kickoff return touchdown since 2016, Boyer’s first season with the team.
With this new system, though, everything from the past goes out the window. Special teams coaches must figure out new ways to be successful.
The Hall of Fame Game featured eight kickoffs for coaches to study. Let’s rewatch all of them and see what we can learn from both a league-wide lens and a Jets-specific perspective.
8 looks at the NFL’s new kickoff system
- (15:00 – 1st) C.Santos kicks 60 yards from CHI 35 to HST 5. S.Sims to HST 26 for 21 yards (Q.Johnson; C.Johnson).
The first-ever “Dynamic Kickoff” was launched by Chicago’s Cairo Santos, who booted it 60 yards to Houston’s five-yard line. There, it was caught by Steven Sims, who returned it 21 yards to the Texans’ 26-yard line. Sims was one of two returners sent back by the Texans. Houston also had Xavier Hutchinson in the landing zone.
Having two returners will be vital due to the rule that states if the ball bounces in the landing zone (goal line to 20-yard line) and goes into the end zone, it must be either returned or downed, and if it is downed, the touchback comes out to the 20-yard line – not ideal for the returning team. Having two returners back – one responsible for each half of the field – vastly reduces the possibility of this happening. If you only have one returner back, you allow the possibility of some type of squib kick that could elude the returner for a 20-yard touchback.
It’s worth noting that all eight kickoffs in this game featured two returners back. This is not required; it was a choice made by both teams. It is time to start looking at the Jets’ kickoff returner competition as a battle for two spots, not one.
Now, let’s talk about Sims’ return. You can see that these returns will now look much closer to the average run play from scrimmage than they used to. It could even be compared to a wide-zone run play. Sims appears to start his return by reading the right edge. He continues scanning toward the inside until he sees a hole that he likes. Eventually, the defense collapses on him, but he is able to dive forward and get past the 25.
If the kickoff goes into the end zone for a touchback (whether it is caught and downed or goes out the back), the touchback comes out to the 30-yard line. This is less than ideal, so kicking teams are likely going to try and place their kickoffs right around where Santos does here. It would be perfect if the kicker could drop it right at the goal line, which Santos fell five yards shy of on this play, but the closer you get to the goal line, the more you risk giving up the 30-yard-line touchback. So, I’d expect most kicks to fall in this area (1-to-5-yard line).
- (8:39 – 1st) K.Fairbairn kicks 58 yards from HST 35 to CHI 7. T.Scott to CHI 26 for 19 yards (B.Brooks).
This kick was secured a couple of yards shallower than the previous one, being caught at the 7-yard line. With a 19-yard return, it matched the ending spot of the first return, placing Chicago at its own 26-yard line to start.
On each of these first two returns, it looks like there is one giant wall of humanity without much behind it. Returners are often going to run into that wall, as Tyler Scott does here. However, if you pause the video right at the moment he tries to cut, look at that hole to his left. If Scott made that cut cleanly without slipping, he had a giant hole with plenty of daylight.
Nobody broke loose for a big one in this game, but each play is going to show that if you do break through that first line of defense, there isn’t a second line waiting for you. The home-run potential is massive in this new system.
- (12:13 – 2nd) K.Fairbairn kicks 66 yards from HST 35 to CHI -1. T.Scott to CHI 20 for 21 yards (J.Hansen). Penalty on CHI, Illegal Formation, declined.
When the regular season arrives, this kick is probably going to be downed every time unless the team is trailing at the end of the game and needs a big play. You cannot pass up on a free pass to the 30-yard line. In the Hall of Fame Game, though, I’m sure both coaching staffs told their players to just return everything so they could get some reps in.
As we can see here, returning a kick out of the end zone in this new format will probably be an unwise decision in most cases. Scott only gets 21 yards, bringing his team out to the 20-yard line, 10 yards shy of where they would have been if he took a knee.
Chicago (return team) was called for an illegal formation on this play. Why? Look at No. 60 (third player from bottom of screen). No player, besides the kicker and any returners in the landing zone, is allowed to move until the ball is touched or hits the ground. No. 60 jumps early, and you can see the ref (bottom left of screen) immediately start reaching for his flag when he sees it.
- (8:22 – 2nd) C.Santos kicks 59 yards from CHI 35 to HST 6. J.Jordan to HST 21 for 15 yards (A.Colbert).
The Hall of Fame Game is infamous for its terrifying “Turf Monster,” who strikes again on this play as he takes out Jawhar Jordan and vanishes without a trace. Looking at the blocking, though, Jordan probably wasn’t getting much further than he did.
Speaking of the blocking, it’s become a very difficult task for the return team. You can see that the nine return-team blockers line up facing either their own end zone or the sideline. They must be in a position where they can confirm the ball is caught before they move, which is a disadvantage compared to the coverage team that is facing its destination. After confirming the ball has landed, they must turn around and set themselves up to block someone who is already running straight at them.
Because of how tough it is to block on these plays, my hunch is that we are going to see a low success rate for kick returns getting much further than the 25-30-yard-line range. However, because of how the coverage team is aligned, the upside for a touchdown seems like it would be very high in the rare cases when the returner does get through. My hypothesis is that we’ll see more touchdowns, more short returns, and less of anything in between.
- (1:44 – 2nd) K.Fairbairn kicks 65 yards from HST 35 to CHI 0. J.Jackson to CHI 28 for 28 yards (D.Ross; A.Gaye).
This is a bullseye kick from Fairbairn. The goal line is the deepest spot you can force the returner to start from without giving him an opportunity to kneel for a 30-yard-line touchback.
Despite the solid kick, John Jackson actually musters a good return out to the 28-yard line. The blocking isn’t great, but Jackson shows impressive power as he bowls forward for about four extra yards after contact.
- (0:46 – 2nd) C.Santos kicks 63 yards from CHI 35 to HST 2. J.Johnson to HST 26 for 24 yards (K.Kareem; C.Jones).
Out of the eight returns, this one was among the best examples of the home-run potential created by this system.
If Houston’s bottom-most blocker sealed the edge at least somewhat decently instead of getting completely destroyed by No. 52 on Chicago, Johnny Johnson could have cut this outside and gone off to the races with only No. 22 to keep up with him. Johnson is also a low-ranked athlete, so it would have helped if a more explosive returner were in this spot. Nonetheless, you could see that this play was only one decent block away from springing the returner free.
There’s only one level to beat. Beating it is tough, but once you do, it’s a track meet. No wonder some NFL coaches compared the new kickoff “playing Cover 0 on every snap.”
- (15:00 – 3rd) K.Fairbairn kicks 64 yards from HST 35 to CHI 1. J.Jackson to CHI 32 for 31 yards (J.Phillips). Penalty on HST, Illegal Formation, declined.
The longest return of the game was this 31-yarder by John Jackson, bringing the Bears out to the 32-yard line.
It’s arguably the most well-blocked return of the game, as the blockers to Jackson’s left do a mostly good job of sealing the Texans’ defenders to the inside, giving Jackson a clean lane to reach the 25-yard line before he’s contacted. Jackson makes one man miss and adds another five yards or so until he’s cut down.
Again, though, you can see this play was just one good block away from something huge. If No. 86 stayed on his block instead of getting shed, there was daylight for Jackson.
I can’t exactly tell what the illegal formation penalty was for, as the ref on the bottom right was already throwing the flag by the time the camera cuts to the full view. Houston’s alignment looks correct (10 players with a foot on the 40-yard line), so I’m guessing that somebody near the bottom jumped too early while they were off-screen.
- (11:39 – 3rd) C.Santos kicks 65 yards from CHI 35 to end zone, Touchback to the HST 30.
The eighth and final kick of the game resulted in the lone touchback. Santos launched the ball about five yards into the end zone, creating an easy kneeldown decision. This resulted in the second-best starting field position of the eight kickoffs.
Takeaways
Here are the end results of the eight kickoffs:
- 7 returns (87.5%)
- 1 touchback (12.5%)
- 159 return yards (22.7 yards per return)
- Average starting field position: Own 26.5-yard line
- Average landing spot of kickoff: Own 1.9-yard line
For the Jets, I think the biggest takeaway is that we should start looking at the kickoff returner role as a two-man job. And with Tarik Cohen out of the picture, that’s fantastic news for Xavier Gipson and Malachi Corley. Right now, they are in the driver’s seat to be the two men standing back when the Jets receive their first kickoff in Santa Clara. It’s also good news for dark-horse contenders like Braelon Allen, Isaiah Davis, and Brandon Codrington.
As for the type of returner that best suits the new style, I think there are two schools of thought.
Some coaches might prefer to prioritize players with excellent breakaway speed. With this type of player, the idea is to bank on the expectation that there will eventually be a perfectly blocked play, and when it happens, you have the ideal player to maximize that opportunity. He might get consistently stuffed in the meantime due to deficiencies with vision and short-area quickness, but it could be worth it for that one touchdown.
On the contrary, considering that kickoffs are now more similar to plays from scrimmage, some coaches might prefer to prioritize players with running back-type skills – namely vision, power, and short-area quickness. Perhaps the lack of long speed will cost you a touchdown that a faster player might have gotten, but on a play-to-play basis, a returner who excels at reading blocks, running through contact, and making sharp cuts would probably be more consistent than a long-striding track star.
The Jets’ returner competition is mostly comprised of players from the latter group. Gipson is a jitterbug who thrives off his short-area quickness. Corley wins with power and toughness, as does Allen. Davis has lackluster long speed for a running back but has very good vision and burst.
New York doesn’t really have a high-4.2/low-4.3 track-runner type who is equipped to bust through the lone line of defense for an untouched 95-yard touchdown. But that might not be a bad thing.
The Jets have a group of players who should do a good job of consistently finding the right hole and making a couple of guys miss for some extra yards. While the Jets may not have the best shot of scoring touchdowns, they could be one of the best teams when it comes to how often they set their offense up at the 30-yard line or further – especially considering Boyer’s track record with getting his team to block well on returns.
One aspect that feels more important after watching Thursday’s game is ball security.
At least in this game, it felt like returners were taking harder hits than they were in the previous format. This is likely because the defenders have a better opportunity to accurately square up and target the returner. In the previous format, they had to fly all the way down the field and cover tons of ground, making it difficult to tee up their shots. Now, they’re working in a short area, allowing them to quickly shed and get their hat on the ball like they would on a run play.
Because of this, it will become even more important to prioritize ball security at the returner position. Gipson, in particular, has a lot to prove in this department after he put five balls on the ground in the 2023 regular season, including a lost fumble on an opening kickoff against Buffalo.
On the other hand, the increased physicality also means that power will become more important for the returner. There were a couple of returns on Thursday where the returner ran through contact to turn a subpar result into a solid one. There were also some clean hits in which the returner did not gain extra yards after contact, resulting in subpar starting field position for the offense. This bodes well for Corley, Allen, and Davis.
The new kickoff system presents a myriad of challenges for special teams coaches. Thursday night was the league’s first opportunity to gather some information on how these new rules look in a real game. I am fascinated to see how Boyer handles kickoffs when the Jets take the field for their first preseason game next Saturday.
