D’wayne Eskridge and new Kickoff rules

[flv2]

ST coaches will be concentrating more on the 10 blockers and 10 tacklers than who the KRs will be. This will take up practice time that would otherwise be devoted to offense and defense. More players will get hurt in training. Teams will have to prepare for returns but they might still prefer to kick for touch-backs. Another consequence could be the return of teams using roster spots on ST specialists, a practice that had all but died out. The 4th or 5th WR might now be a lesser WR who can play STs. There are things the NFL could do to improve quality but this is a 1 year experiment and they'll wait to see what happens.

 

[Maelstrom787]

They wouldn't necessarily be giving up 9 yards. A touch-back would be at the 30. A 21 yard return from the 4 yard line would be at the 25. Teams might bean-count the value of 5 yards versus the risk of injuries. The NFL's return yardage figure is questionable because it's calculated from the reception point, (which is normally in the endzone). A 30 yard return from 7 yards deep under the old rules looked nice statistically but in real terms it was a return for -2.

Oh.

Derp. I didn't think that one through.