The onside kick is an endangered species in the NFL, but a new alternative might be on the way.
The NFL on Sunday will experiment with a pair of new rules for the Pro Bowl. The most notable change will be a new alternative to the onside kick in which teams will have the option to convert a long-yardage play after scoring a touchdown or field goal in order to get the ball back.
Per the NFL, the scoring team will have one of two choices after a scoring play:
1. Allow the opposing team to take the ball at its own 25-yard line
2. Attempt a “fourth-and-15” conversion from the scoring team’s 25-yard line
Basically, the conversion attempt replaces the onside kick. If the scoring team is able to convert the attempt, it would keep the ball wherever the play ended. For example, the scoring team goes for the conversion from its own 25-yard line and gains 18 yards. That team would keep the ball and have first-and-10 from its own 43-yard line. If the scoring team is unable to convert the attempt, the defensive team would take over wherever the play ends short of the first-down marker. For example, the scoring team goes for the conversion from its own 25 but gets stopped after 12 yards. The defensive team would get the ball at its opponent’s 37-yard line.
How this would affect the kickoff as a whole is unclear. For the Pro Bowl, at least, it sounds like kickoffs will be gone completely. Perhaps there’s an alteration that allows for the option to be a kickoff or the conversion attempt, but the assumption is these rule changes are designed in part to improve player safety by eliminating kickoffs.
The other rule change experiment for the Pro Bowl involves false start penalties with receivers.
“It is not a false start if a flexed, eligible receiver in a two-point stance who flinches or picks up one foot, as long as his other foot remains partially on the ground, and he resets for one second prior to the snap.”
Further, “It is a false start if all 11 offensive players have been set for at least one full second, and any flexed eligible receiver breaks his stance by picking up both feet.”
