DeCamillis believes NFL rule change will make kickoffs "a weapon" for Broncos

Five years ago, the NFL began their reform to the most dangerous play in the game, the kickoff. The league moved the kickoff from the 30 to the 35-yard line and achieved their desired result. The large-legged kickers in the league easily blasted the ball out of play, especially in the Mile High City, where the only people excited by kickoffs were the ones with seats behind the end zone who may get a chance to catch the ball.

This year, the league made another change in hopes of decreasing returns, when they made the decision to move the touchback from the 20 to the 25-yard line. The idea being that returners will be less inclined to take the ball out of the end zone if they know they are guaranteed the 25.

The idea makes sense in theory but Denver Broncos special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis says “not so fast.”

“I think we’ve got a good cover team,” he said Thursday. “I think if you have a good cover team, I’m not sure the league is going to get the exact result that they want where it’s going to be less returns. I think it’s going be the chance of getting more returns in my opinion.”

“Joe D,” as they call him around the facility, trusts his cover team and trusts his kicker Brandon McManus, a recipe for increased returns as the team will employ deep variation of the sky-kick.

“I think that ball is going to be landing between the 5 and the goal line, where the return team has to make a decision,” he explained. “Now, when we have a guy like we do that can hang the ball and put the ball in the air, it’s going to be a weapon in my opinion.”

“He’s gotten much better at that,” DeCamillis added of his kicker’s control. “Obviously, at our place you see a lot of touchbacks because of the altitude, but he can control the ball, too. I think with the way the rule is, we’ll see how it works out. At least it’s going to be an option for us.”

It may have been naive for the NFL to believe teams would be willing to just hand their opponents the 25-yard line. Last season teams that started drives on the 25 scored touchdowns on over 21-percent of those possessions, whereas teams that started on the 20 crossed the goal line just 18-percent of the time. Only one team, the Minnesota Vikings, had an average starting field position of the 25-yard line or better.

It’s a big change, a change big enough that NFL coaches are certainly going to explore their options to prevent the concession of five yards. For the Broncos, they’ll test it out in the preseason.

“We’re going to try and keep the ball out of the endzone as much as we can during preseason because you want to see guys cover,” DeCamillis told. “You want to see what guys can do between the lines and see what they do in the kicking game. You can’t do that on a touchback. We’re going to definitely let them cover during the preseason.”

For a league that is trying to create a safer game—or at least wants the world to believe that—this situation shaking out the way DeCamillis thinks it will is less than desirable. More kick returns likely means more concussions, the opposite of the desired outcome. If things do shake out that way, it may turn into a large step towards a drastic change, one that has been mulled for years—the death of the kickoff altogether.