Baltimore Ravens: Justin Tucker Proposes Kickoff Rule Change
By Ben Palmer
Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has proposed an interesting potential rule change for for the NFL, rewarding kickers for making kickoff field goals
It’s no secret that Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has a cannon of a leg. All you have to do is watch his career-long 61-yard field goal against the Detroit Lions in 2013 to see that. Or you can look at his 35 touchbacks this season, which ranks 12th in the NFL.
It’s those touchbacks that Tucker talked about on the Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday. Both he and coach John Harbaugh have proposed an interesting rule change to make kickoffs a little more interesting:
“The idea is if you split the uprights on a kickoff you get a point or you get rewarded for it in some way,” Tucker said, “The version I like is, you split the upright, you get a point. I’ve also heard that if you split the uprights, and instead of the opposing team starting at the 25, maybe they start at the 10, just to make the game a little more interesting…Everybody is sick and tired of offenses just running up the score. They want to see defense, at least in Baltimore they do.”
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Coach Harbaugh agrees, it’s something he actually brought up after the Ravens win against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. “I’m on record as advocating that that should [count as] a point,” Harbaugh said, “I’m serious now. But really, how exciting would that make it? If we’re going to make these touchbacks so valuable, let’s do it, let’s go for it.”
It’s certainly an interesting proposition, and it would add a whole other element to the game, rewarding teams for having kickers with strong legs and being able to do something fairly difficult, which is essentially kicking an 82-yard field goal.
I do think that kickers should be more involved in some way, there are plenty of times where a kicker just comes in, kicks a few extra points and that’s it. It’s almost a running joke in the NFL that no one cares about kickers, so adding this element to the game would be interesting.
“I think eventually we are going to keep making the game harder for kickers, then you have to reward us in some way.” Tuckers said Sunday after initially hearing about Harbaugh’s suggestion, and I would agree.
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The NFL already made extra points harder, and I’m not necessarily against that, but there needs to be a balance. If you’re going to make the game increasingly harder for kickers, you need to balance that out by also rewarding them.