Thomas McGaughey

Special Teams Coordinator

November 3 Updates

The tweaks the NFL made to its new "dynamic kickoff" setup in 2025 have worked, in the sense that the league was trying to significantly increase the percentage of kickoffs that were returned. After the new setup had only a small impact on that number in its 2024 debut season, the starting line of scrimmage after a touchback was moved from the 30 to the 35, and that has made all the difference in the world.

Through the almost-completed slate of Week Nine contests (with Dallas and Arizona still to go on Monday night), there have been 1,090 kickoff returns across the NFL. That's the most returns in the first nine games of a season since there were 1,098 in 2003. There were 587 kickoff returns in the entire 2023 season before t

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