Count Justin Tucker among the latest NFL figures reckoning with the new frontier that is the kickoff format in 2024.
The Ravens star and future Pro Football Hall of Famer discussed on Thursday how he's preparing for the changes to the kickoff.
"Just like a pitcher tries to develop his stuff, I'm doing the same thing out here trying to figure out whichever way we can in our minds gain an advantage, gain an edge," Tucker explained to reporters following Thursday's OTA session. "Whether that means putting the ball in different spots, making it challenging for a returner to scoop up the ball easily. All those things we're looking at right now, granted we are kind of in the fledgling stages of what we are trying to accomplish here, what we are trying to figure out."
Tucker has made his living as one of the most dependable kickers in NFL history, but as was the case for most every kicker, the kickoff became an irrelevant play due to rule changes implemented to make it safer. Those adjustments resulted in fewer returns, reducing it to little more than a ceremonial change of possession.
Now, though, Tucker might need to tackle occasionally, especially if return teams can effectively create running lanes for their returners.
"Like you said, we are in the lab, and, more recently, my lab has actually been the weight room," Tucker said. "This might be really surprising to a lot of you guys and a lot of my teammates because I don't [tend] to hang out in the weight room too frequently. But after watching a lot of these XFL plays, over the last couple years, the kicker seems to be involved in 20-25 percent of the tackles, so I've mixed it up a couple of times, I've gotten in there. But now I've got to get some more shrugs, get the traps going a little but you know just to make sure I'm prepared for a little more contact."
The kickoff changes have been a hot topic this offseason. Pittsburgh's special teams coordinator Danny Smith tossed out the idea of using Justin Fields as a returner, while Chiefs coordinator Dave Toub wondered aloud whether safety Justin Reid might be a better option on the kickoff than Harrison Butker because of his defensive experience.
This might be an overreaction, though. Prime Video analytics expert Sam Schwartzstein -- a driving force behind the kickoff changes that first debuted in the XFL -- recently wrote on social media he believed the new format won't require such drastic changes, because he doesn't anticipate the kicker to be as involved as most expect.
Still, the fact Tucker is preparing for every possible scenario illustrates the uncertainty harbored by many detail-obsessed NFL coaches. Training camp and the preseason will become a testing lab of sorts for these possibilities, and by the time Week 1 arrives in September, most should have a decent understanding of how to approach the new format.
Until then, expect everyone involved in special teams to be as diligent as possible with their preparation. Tucker might even set a new personal best in the weight room this summer.
