NFL chief football administrative officer Dawn Aponte said earlier this week that moving kickoff touchbacks from the 30th to the 35th before the start of the season is “It is not likely. “Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was even more adamant after the team’s final preseason game on Saturday.
“No, no, no, no,” Jones said. “I don’t expect any changes at kickoff. … I didn’t expect anything like that and I don’t expect it.”
Owners will meet Tuesday to discuss the league’s potential decision to allow teams to sell a portion of the franchise to private equity funds. The NFL will also likely brief owners on the results of the preseason’s dynamic start, as the league calls it.
Before this weekend’s final preseason games, the average starting position was the 28.3-yard line, according to the NFL, which is up 4.4 yards from last season. The starting spot after a touchback is the 30-yard line, and teams could decide to simply concede it to avoid the risk of a long return.
This is a fear that Jones does not share.
“I don’t know if (teams will kick into the end zone), because every team will be different,” Jones said.
The league changed kickoff rules after return rates fell to a record low of 22 percent last season, and all 13 kickoffs in the Super Bowl were touchbacks. Prior to this week’s slate of preseason games, the dynamic kickoff had resulted in 78 percent of kickoffs returned.
That number is unlikely to stay that high in the regular season with the starting spot at 30 after a touchback.
Jones said it’s too early to form any kind of opinion on the dynamic kickoff until the regular season begins.
“From what I’ve seen… I’m fine with it (for now),” Jones said.