Punter Michael Dickson already gives the Seattle Seahawks a major advantage in special teams. If the NFL adopts the proposed kickoff rules, kicker Jason Myers will join him as a major weapon.
While I can't say it's flown under the radar, the news of proposed rules changes to NFL kickoffs hasn't been the biggest news in the league, either. There have been a few stories with a bit larger impact on the league overall. Something about players in a combine, maybe? Not sure what that's all about. I mean, if a kid wants to work the family farm, let him. Seems to have worked for that Purdy guy down south.
Oh, and the Seahawks have made a bit of news on their own, too. It seems they released a few players and added a few dollars to their budget for this year. One of those moves was overdue, while the other two, while expected, still sting a bit. However, I would be remiss if I didn't remind you, dear 12s, that not so long ago, the Hawks released Geno Smith, only to re-sign him the very next day. No, it's not likely that Seattle will bring back any of the players they released today, but they certainly could do so.
The Seattle Seahawks would see a huge benefit from the kickoff changes
First, let's talk about what these proposed changes are. As reported on the league's own site, the changes are two-fold. The first changes affect onside kickoffs. The new rule proposes that teams could only attempt an onside kickoff in the fourth quarter, and only if they are trailing. I'm not a fan of taking away any strategy from a coach, even if it's a bad strategy, but, whatever.
The interesting part of the rule is that the kicking team would have to declare their intent. In exchange for giving up the surprise kick - which, let's face it, is never a surprise in those circumstances - they can kick with an unbalanced lineup, with 6 players to the one side of the kicker. I like it!
The story isn't the onside kick, it's the other 2,657 kickoffs
Now for the proposal that would give the Seahawks a bigger advantage than almost any other team. Under the proposed rules, the receiving team will line up at their own 35-yard line. The kicking team, other than the kicker, will line up at the receiving team's 40-yard line. Yes, that's just 5 yards away, and that's the point of the rule change - to help prevent injuries from high-speed collisions. Neither the receiving nor the kicking players on those lines can move until the ball is touched by the receiving team, or the ball reaches the target zone, which is past the 20 yard-line.
Now comes the fun part. If the ball is kicked into the end zone, the receiving team takes the ball out at their 35-yard line. However - this is the fun part - if the ball reaches the target zone and rolls into the end zone, the receiving team starts their drive at the 20. So teams have a major incentive to stop blasting the ball into the end zone.
At the same time, they'll have all the incentive in the work to drop the ball inside the 20. If a returner attempts a return, he has a cadre of special teamers like John Rhattigan and Jerrick Reed III inches from his chest. If he lets it roll, odds are it will stick inside that end zone, and it comes out to the 20.
Why am I so confident about this? Jason Myers wasn't the most effective kicker when it came to forcing touchbacks last season. While the league averaged returns on just 22.2 percent of all kicks, Seahawks opponents returned the ball on 26.7 percent of all kicks (per Pro Football Focus, subscription required). That wouldn't seem so bad, except that 20 players with at least 60 kickoffs faired better. The NFL's best was the Jets Greg Zuerlein, who only allowed five returns on 64 kicks. That's a phenomenal return rate of just 7.8 percent.
The Seahawks can turn one weakness into a strength, and make a strength even greater
So how does the new rule benefit Myers and the Seahawks? Simple, isn't it? Blasting the ball out of the end zone would now put the ball at the 35-yard line, not the 25. One thing Myers was good at was forcing fair catches. He tied for third in the league, with seven last season. And fair catches will be the name of the game under the proposed rule. It isn't so much that Myers will be better at this than any other kicker, but the one thing that's been a liability in his game - the lack of touchbacks - will now be a strength.
And then there's that guy Dickson. While at first glance, you might say, a punter can't consistently make kicks of that range - um, three of PFF's top graded kickoff specialists last season were punters. The Rams Ethan Evans, the Falcons Bradley Pinion, and the Lions Jack Fox all handled their team's kickoffs. Between them, they had 268 kicks, and all were graded ahead of Myers.
So imagine Michael Dickson lines up for the kick and booms the ball from his own 35. It hangs, and hangs, and hangs; his average hangtime, 4.42 seconds, was 10th in the league last season. Better still, his net punting yardage, 44.1 yards, was fourth in the NFL. He was also tied for fourth in the league for return average at 6.8 yards.
So Dickson drops the ball over the 20, and as we've seen so often, his punts aren't the easiest to handle. Whether new special teams coach Jay Harbaugh elects to try Dickson out or take advantage of Myers' skillset under the new rules, the Seahawks will be prepared to make the most of the changes.