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 the new process was introduced, and 919 all of last season.
There have also been a wide array of outcomes for the 32 teams. The 49ers lead the NFL with an average starting position of their own 32.6-yard line after kickoffs; the Buccaneers are near the bottom with an average start of the 27.5-yard line. As a kicking team, the Panthers have found the top edge, holding their opponents to an average start of the 26.1; Tampa Bay ranks 18th with an average of the 30.0.
And that is largely because there is a wider array of potential outcomes for a kickoff return crew. Dismissing possible turnovers, the return team could get a live return or the ball could be placed at the 20, the 35 or the 40. Touchbacks on which the ball is caught or lands in the end zone come out to the 35. If the kick hits the ground before reaching the landing zone of the goal line to the 20, the ball is placed at the 40. The best possible outcome for the kicking team is to have the ball hit the ground in the landing zone and then go into the end zone for a touchback.
Kicks that are popped up like a traditional kickoff are usually relatively easy for a return man to get to and field it in the air, and if it does hit the ground the hops are often easy to field as well. However, some times have experimented with what Bucs Head Coach Todd Bowles calls a "dirty kick," which is not meant derogatorily. On such a play, the kicker tries to send the ball downfield on a lower, faster trajectory, so that it has a better chance of skidding between the return men and into the end zone. And if the return men do try to field it on the bounce there is a better chance they will mishandle it.
The Buccaneers have not tried this option as of yet, and on Monday Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey provided some insight into why. Essentially, the Buccaneers know they have one of the best field goal kickers in the NFL and they don't want to mess with his swing.
"We went back and looked at all the top teams in the league," said McGaughey of his part in the Bucs' bye-week self-scouting. "And most of them that are in the top six or seven, a lot of them early in the season were hitting that dirty ball. But what happens is, you look at their kickers' results of their field goals and you see a decline, because those are two different leg swings.
"Early in the season, you saw a lot of dirty balls, and then now, within the last two or three weeks, you haven't seen as many, because it does affect your leg swing. It's a different leg swing. So if it's something you're doing consistently, it can creep into other facets of the game. So that can affect your field goal percentage. You look at the kid from the Rams, [Joshua] Karty, that's all he does is kick the dirty balls, and he's yanked a pulled a couple of his field goals. So you have to be really, really careful with that. It's something you can't do all the time; you have to use it as a changeup. You've got to be careful with that."
Placekicker Chase McLaughlin handles the kickoffs for the Buccaneers and has relied on a popup kick he tries to get inside the five-yard line, using an easy leg swing that is similar to what he does on field goals. Of his 42 kickoffs so far, only five have been caught in the end zone and only one resulted in a touchback.
More importantly, McLaughlin remains one of the league's most consistent and dangerous kickoffs. He was 59 of 63 on field goals over his first two seasons in Tampa and, after some uncharacteristic early-season struggles this year, has hit on 11 of his last 12 and 17 of 21 overall. He has also tried eight field goals from 50 yards and beyond, including a franchise-record 65-yarder in Week Four, and made all of them. In his career, McLaughlin is 40 of 47 from 50 yards and beyond, the second-highest success rate from that range in NFL history.
It's easy to see why the Bucs don't want to mess with that swing.
CLICK HERE for Coach McGaughey's virtual meeting with the media on Monday.
