Kickoff is still an evolving process
The NFL introduced new kickoff rules ahead of last season, meaning teams spent much of 2024 just trying to figure out their initial approach to the changes. The Panthers, under special teams coordinator Tracy Smith, took a different style than most teams, namely with how the units lined up on kickoffs and kickoff returns. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll continue to do so.
“If something comes up that seems better, that seems like something to try, you have to be open to that,” Smith said Thursday morning ahead of the Panthers’ Week 1 matchup.
It’s a mindset that every team has to take right now, according to Smith, considering the kickoff changes—relative to the rest of the game—are still very much in their infancy.
“The whole NFL is on game 21, not counting the playoffs, of this particular set of rules, so it’s still kind of at the beginning.”
The Panthers averaged 25.2 yards per return in 2024, while holding opponents to an average of 24.3 yards per return. And while those numbers weren’t at the top of the league, they weren’t at the bottom either, so while the Panthers and the NFL as a whole continue to discover the best way to approach this form of kickoffs, Smith prefers his unit to be productive over anything.
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