Andrew Buller-Russ
The NFL’s owners recently agreed to amend the rules for kickoffs, allowing fair catches to be spotted at the 25-yard line, just as it’s been in college football since 2018. There isn’t a single special teams coach in football who’s pleased with the change, but Joe Judge and the New England Patriots are taking a unique approach to the new challenge.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss had a chance to attend the Patriots’ organized team activities, where he spotted the team’s kickers, Nick Folk and rookie Chad Ryland, working overtime to practice squib kicks, with Judge reportedly “emerging as a leading presence.”
Squib kicks, if done correctly, would force teams to return the ball since it is not like a traditional kickoff in that it bounces several times instead of sailing through the air like a punt or typical kickoff. Yet, this style of kicking also includes more risk since the ball’s bounce path is so unpredictable.
This could lead to the ball going out of bounds, allowing the opponent to take possession at the 40-yard line. Yet, the potential benefit for the kicking team would be the ball bouncing in a way so unpredictably that the returner doesn’t get an opportunity to quickly scoop it up and improve field position. In this case, an offense could be forced into poor field position, starting with the ball anywhere before the 25-yard line instead.
We could see squib kicks become much more common with the rule change when teams try to ‘force’ their opponents to field the kick instead of being given the ball at the 25-yard line. The Patriots are well aware of this, and they’re likely not the only team experimenting with alternative kicks this offseason. We’ll see how often squib kicks come into play with the new rule change, but don’t be surprised to see the Patriots break it out of their bag if their experiments this summer go well.
Related: Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings 2023: Evaluating worst, best kickers in the NFL for all 32 teams
