Two years ago, the NFL rolled out a new kickoff format designed to maximize excitement and return attempts while minimizing the number of severe injuries. While the league largely accomplished that goal and has made the change permanent, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has opened up about a new challenge that it created for kickers.
Butker has been consistently one of the best and most consistent kickers in the league over the past several years. However, for the past two seasons, his field goal rate and his extra point rate were below his career averages. According to Butker, it’s no coincidence that those numbers dipped after the league rolled out its new kickoff format.
As Butker prepares for the upcoming season, he spoke to the media a bit about his field goal and extra point percentage, where he admitted that his preparation for the new kickoff format impacted his ability to kick field goals and extra points.
Butker explained that he practiced kicking “knuckleballs” on kickoffs that were difficult for the opposing team to field cleanly, impacting their ability to set up a return. However, those “knuckleballs” required a different type of kick than he used for field goals and extra points, which impacted his preparation for those more important kicks.
As a result, Butker eventually decided to give up on even attempting the knuckleballs entirely, and he saw some immediate improvements.
“Field goals matter the most,” Butker said via Pro Football Talk. “Trying to hit those knuckleballs and the funny kickoffs maybe affected the field goals a little bit. I think halfway through the season last year I said, forget the kickoffs — not forget the kickoffs — but I’m just gonna hit a high hang time ball, good location, just focus on the location. I’m not gonna hit a low line-drive knuckleball. And I think that’s helped my field goals because it’s the same foot-to-ball contact. Good foot-to-ball contact on the field goal and just do the same thing on the kickoff rather than having two different swings. So that helped me the second half of the season and I’m sticking with that for training camp and this season.”
Based on this change in preparation, it would make sense for Butker’s field goal and extra point percentage to climb up a bit and be more in line with his career average. It will also be interesting to see whether or not other kickers throughout the league decide to take a similar approach.
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