Under the new rule, 10 players on each team will line up just five yards apart and won’t begin running until the ball gets back to the returner, meaning players won’t be going full speed when they crash into each other, which caused so many injuries on kickoffs in years past. Of the 22 players on the field, only the kicker and the kickoff returner will line up separately from those 20 players who are five yards apart.
The rule was changed as a one-year trial, which means it will need to be re-approved next year or else the league will revert to its previous kickoff rules.
When the rule was tried in the XFL, injuries were down and returns were up. That’s what the NFL hopes to see this year. And the kickoff in the NFL will look different than it has ever looked before.