Earlier this month, the XFL dropped a huge new set of rules in their league that will be much different in the NFL, with the most eye-popping one being the rules during the kickoff.
The spot of the kickoff will be set at the kicking team’s 25-yard line. (The NFL and college standard is the 35-yard line.) However, members of the kicking team (excluding the kicker) will line up at the receiving team’s 35-yard line and blockers on the receiving team must line up at their 30-yard line.
On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Vipers showed off what it would look like in real life and you can see how many returns might be returned for a touchdown.
- Kickoffs that go out of bounds, or fall short of the receiving team’s 20-yard line,will come to the kicking team’s 45-yard line. (The NFL and NCAA only require a kick travel 10 yards; kicks out of bounds are placed at the receiving team’s 40 yard line.)
- The XFL will use two different types of touchbacks. A major touchback occurs when a kick travels into the endzone in the air, which would result in the receiving team taking possession at the 35. A minor touchback occurs when the ball bounces into the endzone, which would result in the receiving team taking possession at the 15. These rules discourage either team from purposefully taking a touchback.
- Teams can request to attempt an onside kick under more conventional kickoff rules.
