Get ready for Rams Wild and Whacky NFL rules changes to kickoffs.

Does the kickoff team truly have the advantage?

The very design of the new formation, placing the number of bodies in such close proximity, gives blocking assignments for receiving teams new life. In the past, the best a return team could do is emphasize running to the right, left, or up the middie for a return play. But with blockers just five yards from their assignments, the return team can be far more specific, and could treat the play in much the same version as a jet sweep or other running play that requires time to develop.

The NFL redesigned kickoffs to give teams a greater opportunity to return the kickoff. Just check out the latest estimates by one NFL team, the New York Jets, as to their expectation of how the new rule will impact the game:

Per these projections, NFL teams can expect to triple their number of kickoff returns in 2024, as well as face three times the number of returns by their kicking team. In 2024, the LA Rams returned just nine kickoffs, with an average of just 16.1 yards per return. If these current projections hold for 2024, the Rams are likely to return 30+ kickoffs in 2024.

So the main question for Rams fans is who will return so many kickoffs, and will that be a good thing for the team? While we ponder that question, what about the number of kickoff returns that the Rams faced in 2023? Per Lineups.com, the Rams kickoff team faced 11 returns for 296 total yards. That works out to 17.4 kickoff return yards per game. What happens if that number is tripled? 33 returns for nearly 900 yards is a huge spike of production that will put the young defense on their heels frequently this season.

There is a great deal of pressure on the Rams kickoff teams to improve dramatically this year. But that is simply the obvious impacts. What of the unexpected outcomes of these new kickoff rules?