FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons special-teams coordinator Marquice Williams had a busy offseason trying to figure out how to attack the NFL’s new kickoff rules.
Also, he lost punt returner Avery Williams to a season-ending knee injury.
Under the new kickoff rule, the receiving team can fair catch the ball anywhere behind the 25-yard line and get the ball at the 25. Previously, a player could return the ball and risk not reaching the 25-yard line.
The rule change was made in the name of player safety and to try to prevent some of those nasty kickoff-return collisions and concussions. The NFL projects that kickoff returns will be reduced by 7% with the new fair catch rule, and the rule could lead to a 15% drop in concussions on kickoffs.
“That’s a rule,” Marquice Williams lamented. “I understand the intent of the rule.”
Soon after the rule passed, the plotting started. To fair catch or not to fair catch is the question.
“We have to understand how we can use that rule to our advantage,” Williams said. “How we attack being a return team. How we try to flip the field and give our offense great field position.”
The Falcons have Cordarrelle Patterson, who broke the record last season for most kickoff returns for a touchdown in a career with his ninth. The Falcons likely will lean toward staying aggressive on kickoff returns while picking their spots to fair catch the kickoffs.
With Patterson back deep, most teams likely will try to kick the ball out of the end zone for a touchback.
“We are trying to play complete football here with the Falcons,” Williams said. “Any opportunity where we can put our offense in better field position and create a spark for our offense because, again, that’s the first play on offense. We want to take advantage of that.”
The Falcons’ coverage teams also must prepare for the new rule.
“There will be situations where teams will try to do that against us and to their advantage,” Williams said. “We have to go out there and put the best 11 out there, understand the situation and execute at the highest level possible.”
Patterson became the NFL’s undisputed “Kickoff Return King” with a 103-yard touchdown against the Bears in a 27-24 win Nov. 20. He surpassed retired NFL players Josh Cribbs and Leon Washington, who were tied with eight.
“Obviously, on the kick return, we’re pretty confident with CP (Patterson), but you’re always looking for depth, and we’ll see the strategy with the new rule, how people are adapting to it,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “There’s nothing that says you can’t return them, so if that’s the best strategy for us, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Teams around the NFL, including the Falcons, have been looking at different way to benefit from the rule.
“We did a lot of self-studies, even on our own, looking at sky kicks that possibly could have been a fair catch and you get the ball at the 25-yard line,” Smith said. “You know what’s your rate on return, are you getting past the 25-yard line? Again, we’re looking at not only ours, but around the league, and ours are actually pretty good.”
The Falcons will have a week-to-week game plan for the kickoff return and coverage units.
“If we need to return a kick, we’re pretty confident in that group,” Smith said. “If that’s what we decide to do.”
The Falcons plan to have a open competition to replace Avery Williams.
“We’ll get a little more of a better evaluation when we go down to Miami (for the exhibition opener), hopefully, and that’s what we have to use the (exhibition games) for,” Smith said.
Rookie running back Bijan Robinson has been back catching punts along with cornerback Mike Hughes, cornerback Dee Alford, wide receivers Penny Hart, Keilahn Harris and Zay Malone.
“The punt-return battle will play out, and hopefully, we’re getting a lot of looks at it during the (exhibition) season, and that means we’re playing pretty good defense, too,” Smith said.
Robinson, the team’s highly prized top draft pick, is not exempt from special-teams duties.
“He has returnability,” Marquice Williams said. “He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands. He did it in college and we’ll see what he can do this year in the NFL.”
Robinson likely will not be the primary returner, but if the Falcons find themselves down and need to gobble of chunks of yardage, he could be a specialty option.
“There might be a chance for us to flip the field and create points,” Marquice Williams said. “You could put him out there … if there’s an opportunity to be made. We want to put the best guys out there, and he’s one of them.”
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