'It's actually going to be a play now:' Killebrew on NFL's new kickoff rule

The NFL took a page from the XFL's play book with respect to kickoffs, and teams are now a couple of months into learning the ins and outs of how this rule operates.

In late-March, the new rules to kickoffs passed with a 29-3 vote and will be implemented for the 2024 season with a revisit coming in the following offseason. The rule changes are meant to increase the number of kick returns while keeping player safety at the forefront. The Steelers have an All-Pro special teamer in Miles Killebrew who takes more pride than anyone at his position about special teams, and he is taking this process along with coach Danny Smith and figuring out how the Steelers can make it work in their favor.

"The biggest change is it's actually going to be a play now," Killebrew said after Thursday's OTA practice on the South Side. "Teams are incentivized to return the ball. With player-safety initiatives taking the forefront of the attention, they're taking a lot of the running off the play itself. We're very interested, here in Pittsburgh, with making sure that we have a full grasp on the rules because the rules are so fresh. Once we fully understand what can be utilized and what advantage we can gain, then it's only then that we'll be able to start practicing that." 

The new kickoff rule has these parameters:

• The kickoff specialist will kick from their own 35-yard line, and the other 10 players will line up on the receiving team's 40-yard line.

• The receiving team must have at least nine players line up in the "setup zone" between their own 30- and 35-yard line.

• Two returners from the receiving team will be placed in a "landing zone" between the 20-yard line and the goal line.

• Only the kicker and the returners can move in between when the ball is kicked and when it is received.

• If the ball touches the ground or a player in the "landing zone," rolls beyond the goal line or downed in the end zone, then the result of the play is a touchback at the 20-yard line.

• If the ball goes out of bounds behind the receiving team's goal line, hits the goalpost or lands at or beyond the goal line and is downed in the end zone, the play results in a touchback at the 30-yard line.

Here is a taste of it from an XFL game in 2023:

Killebrew said there is a "100%" chance that teams will try to design routes and get creative in different ways within the parameters of the new rule.

"But, the thing is, because they took all that running out, it's going to happen very quickly," Killebrew said. "It almost turns into a glorified stretch play. I think that you're going to see a lot of explosive plays this year. I think there's going to be a lot of touchdowns because once you get past that first layer there's no one else there. You don't have the time for safeties to fold behind. There's multiple layers with guys running down the field with different speeds. It's going to be a very impactful play and I think you're going to see a lot of explosiveness come from that area of the game."

The Steelers have the personnel to navigate through this chance. Killebrew is an ace at the position and the Steelers invested $6.5 million over two years to keep him around. Calvin Austin III has the speed to weaponize these types of plays -- like Killebrew hinted -- and the additions of Cordarrelle Patterson and Quez Watkins are sure to give Smith plenty of ways to get creative within this new rule.

This not a coincidence: The changes to the kickoff rules were revealed in late-March, and the Steelers announced the signing of Patterson April 1. Patterson has familiarity with Arthur Smith's offense from his time in Atlanta, but Patterson's value will in all likelihood come within special teams. Patterson was selected to six All-Pro teams (four times to the first team) and four Pro Bowls for his work as a returner. He is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-2010s team as a kick returner.

"I think we'll be OK," Killebrew said with a chuckle. "I think we have the talent to get things done and then it's just going to be a matter of making sure that we have a cohesive unit to block for our explosive guys that we have back there."

The NFL's intent to combat a lull that comes with kickoffs is valid. In the 2023 NFL season, the NFL reported a rate of 21.8% of kickoffs were returned. That number is drastically different -- and is nearly the inverse -- of the 88.7% of kicks returned in the 2003 season. In Super Bowl LVII between the Chiefs and 49ers, every kickoff resulted in a touchback.

The first instance of the new rule will be on display in a game Aug. 1 at the Hall of Fame Game between the Texans and Bears in Canton, Ohio. The Steelers will surely give fans a taste of their own recipe at training camp, but there is a widespread curiosity of how other teams are going to approach and execute this new rule.

"It's different for all of us," Killebrew said. "As much as we can speculate, unless we played in the XFL or the UFL, we've never done this before and so it's going to be fresh for all of us. I think that there's going to be a lot more people watching this Hall of Fame Game than ever before, myself included. It's probably going to take the place of one of our meetings because we just want to see it in real time. ... I'm a teams guy. I love talking about it, I love theorizing it. We are going to be making sure that we are practicing every single facet of this new play."

There is going to be a learning curve for everyone with this, and that's one thing that is certain across the board. Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub said Thursday they would experiment with using safety Justin Reid as a kickoff specialist rather than veteran place-kicker Harrison Butker in order to get someone extra onto the field who can make a tackle. Toub added that Butker can move the ball wherever he wants to, whereas non-specialists like Reid might not be able to. 

"I like to have someone who can go back and make a tackle," Toub said. "Butker's able to make a tackle, but I really don't want him making tackles all year long."

Onside kicks will look the same they traditionally have and the surprise factor of those plays might be gone, but the inception of this rule on the standard kickoffs is sure to alter how teams operate and how creative their staffs can get.

"Technique is going to be paramount," Killebrew said. "I think a lot of times guys could get away from technique with speed or pure aggression because there was time and distance to do so, but now it's going to be all technique because it's going to be all close-quarters combat right now. You're not going to be able to hide behind speed. It's going to be really quick, it's going to be really fast and guys are going to have to drop, get their blocks, and guys on the kickoff team are going to have to beat their blocks very quickly, very efficiently and they can't reach, they can't get out of their gaps because it's going to be a touchdown."