Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson has some robust thoughts about the NFL’s changes to the kickoff rule going into the 2024 season.
On one hand, McPherson’s quotable about whether or not the change feels like football will make massive headlines.
On the other, his attitude about adjusting to the changes will assuredly be widespread amongst players.
“It doesn’t feel too much like football,” McPherson said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “But I’m sure it will.
It’s definitely interesting. It brings a lot of placement into play. It’s all touch. It feels weird for me,” McPherson said. “I’m used to kicking it as high as I can, as hard as I can. Now I have to throw it inside to the 5-yard line in specific areas. It’s definitely an adjustment. You have to play the wind a lot more now.”
In short, kickers line up at the 35-yard line now and aren’t allowed to cross the 50 until the ball hits the ground or a player in the last 20 yards near the endzone. The other 10 coverage players can’t move until the latter occurs.
For McPherson, his shots out the back of the endzone are now reduced to higher-up chips. But even he says the changes won’t impact his other important duty when it comes to kicking field goals.
