It’s quite rare, as unlike on a punt they usually don’t have a defender bearing down on them or already in their face, and in fact often have enough time to recover even if they do mess it up somehow.
Still, the kicker can shank it out of bounds to the sideline, which is a significant penalty. Plus, it’s one of the few remaining “foot” plays in football.
LOL. Harsh but fair.
The sports radio I listen to frequently has a lot of former players giving analysis/opinion. And former defensive players will lament how soft the game is now. And then they will later talk about how awful it is dealing with injuries and the long-term effects of those injuries.
One more thing about the new kicking rules: the squib kick is also now dead. Any ball landing short of the 20-yard line will be instantly a dead ball and marked at the 40, unless it is an announced onside attempt.
Sounds good except the egregious examples the NFL used didn’t have people lift themselves up. It showed them dragging runners down. I’m not sure how you are supposed to stay off the legs when you are tackling someone from behind.
Anyway, is there some place I can bet on Caleb Williams being a bust?
You can apply that reasoning to QBs and the snap, amongst other plays. Why not just have the QB start 5 steps deep with the ball? Prior to moving the PAT back, those were so automatic they could have just saved time and awarded 7 points for TDs. Ultimately all the rules are arbitrary with a goal of making the game interesting and fun. Kicking the ball is more interesting and fun in this scenario.
That’s an interesting point. It removes a tactic valuable to teams with the lead and benefits teams trying to come back by making a TD return more likely. That feels like a net positive.
I definitely agree, especially given that about 80% of kickoffs last year were touchbacks (i.e., not interesting or fun in the slightest).
The loss of the unexpected onside kick is, to me, unfortunate, but honestly, it’s a play that might be tried a handful of times a year, so it’s not a big loss.
It seems like advanced analytics have mostly killed that play already. It’ll be missed, but if we get a handful of Devin Hesters over the next few years returning kicks that’s a trade I’ll make all day.
On the squib kick point above, I’m curious how they plan to restrict the kicking team. I can imagine a scenario where a team is losing by 3 at the start of the 4th and decide that electing for an onside kick and then instead kicking a squib to prevent a return might be a sound strategy.
I’ve never seen a squib kick by a team that was trailing.
So true, and I actually had that in the back of my mind when I wondered “why kick at all?” Think of all the things that have changed about the game in the last 100 years, and yet every play from scrimmage still starts with a guy snapping the ball between his legs. Weird.
Here’s an amusing article with other “changes we’d like to see” in football. Of the four, I sort of agree with maybe one of them. Still interesting to contemplate.
Ha! How about a second salary cap that applies only to quarterbacks and the coaching staff.
I predict that the Bears are going to rue the day that they traded Justin Fields. He is a proven commodity, and the team he needed around him but has never had should be in place by the time the new season starts. They could have gotten a king’s ransom for the #1 pick if they had traded it instead of a paltry 6th round pick that they got for trading Fields. Now we yet again have to develop from scratch a brand new NFL untested college QB who may end up being nothing resembling the hysterically exuberant QB we’ve been led to believe that he is. We’ve through this over and over and over again!
I’m done. 
If he was a proven commodity, don’t you think they would’ve got more than a 6th round pick (from a team whose going to put him as a backup).
No, because this is his contract year, and teams could simply wait until he becomes a free agent. Since he’s not an A-Lister (yet), no one would have to break their bank to sign him. Oh, and don’t be so sure he is going to be the backup. If Wilson doesn’t play better, he’ll be given the job.
On a lot of teams (most/all?) the starting QB is seen as part of management more than a fellow player. I’ve heard that anecdote more than once. Your starting QB is treated separately like they are halfway between a coach and a player. I think it has something to do with the fact that everything the offense does will go through them, and so they have so much control over decision-making (on and off the field) that they might as well be a coach.
In that light, your idea makes a ton of sense.
If he isn’t drafted by the Bears, I’d be down to bet. How would you define bust?
I’m not sure. Maybe the drafting team gives up on him before the end of his rookie contract?
Last year I watched more college football than probably any time in my life. I watched and was impressed with most of the top QBs in the draft. Full disclosure I didn’t see Drake Maye. I was not impressed with Williams this year. I really liked how Pennix played but I know there are durability concerns. I think Jayden is going to be really good. I wouldn’t be surprised is Bo Nix has a successful career.
I’ve never had a strong feeling about the bustability of a player before. It’s just a feeling I have with Williams.
That seems like an eminently reasonable criterion.
EDIT: After just doing a quick spot check on recent busts that spring to mind, making sure they did not outlast the rookie contract, I’m reminded what a clusterfuck the 2021 draft was in terms of quarterbacks:
1.01 Trevor Lawrence holding it down
1.02 Zach Wilson (yikes)
1.03 Trey Lance (ouch)
1.11 Justin Fields
1.15 Mac Jones
Five in the first round but only one surviving his rookie contract. Though I guess technically, right at this moment, Zach Wilson is still a Jet.
It happened pretty consistently when Hester was taking kicks for the Bears. It only makes sense if you fear that the receiving team is a serious threat to uncork a huge return (and maybe their offense is shaky). You might believe that preventing any return is your best tactic to get the ball back fast without giving up points. I’m sort of operating under the assumption that this new rule will lead to a huge uptick in kickoff returns for TDs (or big gains) so kicking away will lead to a lot more risk, so the kicking team might need to use strategies other than boom it out of the back of the endzone.
CB Vontae Davis found dead. He was 35. Played for the Dolphins, Colts, and Bills. Retired suddenly during halftime of a game vs the Chargers in 2018. Was the younger brother of TE Vernon Davis.
Wouldn’t be shocked to hear he had CTE. Aside from the sudden mid-game retirement, there were reports of other strange behavior like being found sleeping on the side of the road after crashing his car into a disabled vehicle on the highway in Florida. He was charged with a DUI in the incident. I guess we’ll see what they say in a few weeks.