New York, USA – 10 September 2025
A new rule change intended to add excitement and increase player safety has had a dramatic effect on the National Football League’s Week 1 games, with a surge in kickoff returns marking a significant shift in special teams strategy and bringing a long-dormant play back to the forefront of the game.
After years of declining kickoff returns and a focus on minimizing injuries, the NFL’s latest rule tweak has been a resounding success in its first week of implementation. A small but impactful change—moving the touchback spot for a fair catch from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line—has incentivized teams to return the ball, leading to the highest kickoff return rate in more than a decade. The return rate in Week 1 of the 2025 season exceeded 75%, a stark contrast to the record-low 21.8% return rate seen just two years ago.
Headlines:
* Kickoff Returns Back in a Big Way: The NFL’s new rule, moving the touchback spot for a fair catch from the 30 to the 35-yard line, has led to a major increase in kickoff returns.
* Return Rate Jumps to a 15-Year High: Teams returned over 75% of kickoffs in Week 1, the highest single-week rate since the 2010 season, when the ball was kicked from the 30-yard line.
* A New Era of Strategy: With the average drive start after a kickoff return being more favorable than a touchback, teams are now actively attempting to return the ball.
* More Big Plays on Special Teams: The rule change has already led to several long returns, with a notable 71-yard return by the Tennessee Titans’ Chimere Dike against the Denver Broncos.
* Player Safety Still a Priority: The new rule is a refinement of the “dynamic kickoff” introduced last season, which successfully reduced the rate of concussions on the play by placing players closer together to eliminate high-speed collisions.
The NFL’s decision to tweak its kickoff rules was a deliberate effort to make the play more exciting for fans while maintaining the significant safety improvements achieved with the “dynamic kickoff” format introduced in the 2024 season. By moving the touchback from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, the league made it less appealing for teams to simply allow the ball to be downed in the end zone. The average starting field position after a return in Week 1 was the 29.5-yard line, a slight improvement on last year’s average, but a significant advantage over a touchback.
This subtle change has forced special teams coordinators to re-evaluate their strategies. Kickers are now more likely to try and place the ball in the field of play, short of the end zone, to force a return. This shift has placed a new emphasis on the role of the return specialist, a position that had become increasingly marginalized in recent years. While there were no kickoff returns for touchdowns in Week 1, the number of long returns was the highest since 2015, signaling that it is likely only a matter of time before the first one breaks through.
The NFL’s data suggests the rule change will lead to a 60% to 70% return rate for the season, a projection that was handily exceeded in the first week. While the primary objective remains player safety, the early returns suggest the league has successfully breathed new life into a play that had become largely ceremonial, adding a new layer of strategy and excitement for teams and fans alike.
