Continued consistency and breaking a long drought.
That’s what’s on the line for the Las Vegas Raiders regarding the NFL’s 2025 special teams rule change this upcoming season.
With eyes on creating more action on kickoffs — something that was dampened with player safety in mind — the league moved up the dead ball spot on touchbacks to the 35-yard line. The rule changed, approved on April 1, is aimed in increasing the kickoff return rate which will have reverberating effects on all 32 special teams units in the league.
With this touchback spot change, the NFL has been projecting an increase in the return rate from ~33% in 2024 to between 60%-70% in 2025.