Kickoffs will look a lot different in the NFL this season as it will now feature 10 players on the kicking team lined up opposite of nine players on the return team five yards apart. And Bill Belichick seems to think the new rules will change the type of player teams look for on kickoff coverage.
In the past, teams have wanted fast players to race down the field in order to stop a kickoff return. But Bill Belichick thinks that the new rules favor stronger players instead.
“There will be more of an emphasis on size players in the return game than speed,” Belichick said on the Pat McAfee Show according to Pro Football Talk. “You just need guys who can play at the point of attack, shed blocks and defend their space because of the new alignment. So I think it will increase the size of the players that are on the field. And I do think that because everybody is spread across the field, if these returners, if they hit a little bit of space, they’re gone.”
We’re not really going to know how the new rule is going to affect the game until the games begin, so it will certainly be interesting to watch.
