NFL Kickoff Returns Skyrocket After Latest Rule Change

The NFL’s latest rule change, aimed at making the game more exciting for fans, had an immediate impact on the field during the 2025 season’s opening weekend.

In April, NFL owners voted to make the league’s dynamic kickoff permanent, after first implementing it last season, and moved touchbacks from the 30-yard line to the 35. The idea was to encourage more kickoff returns, and through 15 of the 16 games in Week 1, the league is getting its wish.

So far, 18.6% of kickoffs have produced a touchback, which is down substantially from 64.5% in Week 1 last season and 77.6% in Week 1 of the 2023 season, according to ESPN data.

NFL executives predicted this year’s changes would result in the kickoff return rate rising from roughly 33% last season to somewhere between 60% and 70%. 

While there have been no kickoffs returned for a touchdown so far in Week 1, Titans return man Chimere Dike took a kickoff back 71 yards to the opposing 24-yard line against the Broncos, setting up a field goal at the end of the second quarter. Throughout the weekend, many teams opted to kick the ball short of the end zone to ensure a return.

Kickoff Craze

The NFL’s kickoff rules have been evolving since 2016, when the league moved touchbacks from the 20-yard line to the 25. Last season, touchbacks were moved to the 30-yard line alongside the implementation of the dynamic kickoff, which has been criticized by many fans and even President Donald Trump.

“The worst part of the Super Bowl, by far, was watching the Kickoff where, as the ball is sailing through the air, the entire field is frozen, stiff,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform in February. “College Football does not do it, and won’t! Whose idea was it to ruin the Game?” Trump had previously criticized the kickoff earlier last season, too.

Should the higher return rate continue throughout the season, an important factor to consider will be whether more kickoff returns result in more significant injuries, as making the play safer has been the primary reason for the NFL’s continued kickoff tweaks.