NFL's Dynamic Kickoff: Explaining new rules heading into 2024 season

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With preseason games already underway in the 2024 NFL season, fans are getting to see what the new Dynamic Kickoff looks like in action.

As fans have seen in these early instances, players are still trying to get used to the new rules, let alone fans trying to understand them at home. 

So, before every play starts to really count in the NFL season, let’s break down how the new kickoff, "borrowed" from the XFL, will play out. 

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New NFL kick-off rules are in place during the opening kick-off of the Rams game against the Dallas Cowboys at SoFi Stadium on Aug. 11, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

First, the ball is still to be kicked from the team’s own 35-yard line, and kicks following a safety will be from the 20-yard line. That part of the kickoff has not changed, but the alignment is vastly different. 

As fans may have seen during preseason games, all kicking team players will be lined up with one foot on the receiving team’s 40-yard line. However, unlike the usual start of motion after the kicker makes contact with the football, the kicking team players must wait until the ball hits the ground or the player in the landing zone or end zone. 

The landing zone is from the receiving team’s 20-yard line until the goal line. 

NFL OWNERS APPROVE MASSIVE OVERHAUL OF KICKOFF RULES

For the receiving team, their "setup zone" will be a five-yard area from the 35-yard line to the 30-yard line, where at least nine players must line up facing the kicking team. 

There, at least seven of those nine players must have a foot on the 35-yard line.