As the NFL continues to explore what to do with the kickoff, one of the arguments against getting rid of it comes from the reality that the death of the kickoff would result in the elimination of certain specific roster spots that currently are devoted to players who specialize in special teams.
“I know [for] a fact this year that [the Jaguars] signed three guys because of their special teams play and gave them significant monies,” Jaguars special-teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis said in a recent appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “You’re going to end up taking those guys away from it. Throughout the draft, you say, ‘Well, this guy has the ability to play special teams.’ You take those [kickoff] plays out of the game. . . . Owners are going to start looking at it and say, ‘Hey, we can reduce the roster size. We can reduce those players. You’re talking about a lot of players that are going to start seeing the end of their careers, which I think is significant.”
DeCamillis kind of has a point, but he’s grossly overstating it. If/when the kickoff goes away, players who primarily show their value by their ability to make a contribution during kickoff coverage or kickoff returns risk losing their spots. But those spots will then be filled by someone else with a different skill set.
Putting it another way, no one is suggesting that dumping the kickoff will in some way justify reducing total rosters from 53 or active, game-day rosters from 46. The impact would come from the changing requirements arising from the shifting skills -- no different than, for example, the proliferation of passing offenses in the ‘70s and ‘80s, which made receivers, pass-catching tight ends, and cover corners more desirable while in turn putting plenty of fullbacks, blocking tight ends, and slow-footed linebackers on the same path the dinosaurs once trod.
In the NFL, every closing door opens another. The broader concern comes from ensuring that the doors will be open to full participation in football at every level. Removing or restricting or dramatically changing the so-called “most dangerous play in the game” seems to be far more important to the NFL than keeping employed those players whose skills extend only to the kickoff as currently constituted.
