The NFL announced a series of new rule changes for the 2025 season at the annual league meetings. Among the most notable are regular-season overtime games will result in both teams possessing the ball, and that a camera system will be used to measure first downs.
Both of those developments are long overdue. Meanwhile, another one that makes somewhat less sense is that the touchback line on kickoffs has yet again been moved up by five yards, now to the 35-yard marker.
At this point, the field position deep in a team's territory may as well be obsolete. For many years, teams possessed the ball at their 20-yard line if they chose not to return a kickoff. Eventually, that became the 25, then the 30, and now the 35.
With each increase, the challenge of driving down the field to get into scoring range becomes less meaningful.
New NFL kickoff rule should benefit Commanders kicker Zane Gonzalez in 2025
Supposedly, this change was instituted with the intention that it would increase the rate of returns. It's hard to see where that logic is coming from because giving teams five more free yards should they take the touchback seems, in theory, like it will only accomplish the opposite.
Nevertheless, for the Washington Commanders and kicker Zane Gonzalez, there is a silver lining.
Gonzalez fielded a touchback on only 30.3 percent of his kickoffs in 2024. The Commanders allowed 73 kickoffs to be returned, most in the NFL by a wide margin and for an average of 26.5 yards. They were also the only team in the NFL to give up multiple kick return touchdowns.
If this rule change ends up resulting in even fewer kicks being returned, it should help eliminate one of Washington's biggest Achilles' heels from the 2024 season. It should also help Gonzalez's chances to return as the Commanders' kicker, though the direction the team decides to go in that regard is to be determined.
Strictly when it came to scoring, Gonzalez had a productive season in 2024, especially for someone who had been out of the league for three years. He made five of his seven field goal attempts and was a perfect 19-of-19 on extra points. This helped provide the Commanders with stability down the stretch after Austin Seibert's miraculous start was abruptly ended by injury.
Washington could still end up bringing in a different leg, at the very least, to give Gonzalez some preseason competition. But while the new kickoff rule might not be a good thing for football, Commanders fans can take solace in knowing that their team is arguably the biggest beneficiary.
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