This is a big deal! Rams revised kickoff strategy

The Rams completely flipped their kickoff strategy for 2025 – and it worked to perfection
Joshua Karty was a ‘real weapon’ for the Rams on kickoffs in Week 1, ranking as the league’s best kickoff specialist

Cameron DaSilva

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2025/09/10/la-rams-kickoff-rules-week-1-joshua-karty-touchback/86061537007/?taid=68c167254468410001504e09&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

The NFL introduced the “dynamic kickoff” in 2024 in an attempt to increase the number of kick returns, while also making the play safer. The second goal was accomplished, but there weren’t more kick returns as a result of the rule change.

That’s because teams like the Los Angeles Rams took any risk out of the return game by booting just about every kick they could through the end zone, preventing opponents from returning the ball. The Rams’ touchback rate of 82.6% was tied for the third-highest in the NFL last season.

The NFL recognized that flaw and tweaked the rules for 2025 by moving touchbacks from the 30 to the 35-yard line, thus incentivizing teams to keep kicks in play. The result? Week 1 had the highest return rate of any week in the NFL since 2010 at 75.6%, up from 32.8% last season.

The Rams were one of the teams to make a major adjustment to their kickoff strategy in the season opener and it couldn’t have worked any better. With Joshua Karty now handling kickoffs instead of the more powerful Ethan Evans, the Rams have found a new weapon in that phase of the game.

Knowing the opponent will start at their own 20-yard line if the ball bounces in the landing zone and goes for a touchback, the Rams had Karty kick low bullets at the Houston Texans’ returners. They’re not only difficult to field, but they take big forward bounces into the end zone, dissuading the returner from bringing the ball out.

Karty attempted three such kickoffs and the results were excellent. He was tied with Cam Little of Jacksonville for the league lead with two touchbacks that landed in the landing zone, starting the Texans at the 20. Karty’s third kickoff bounced in the landing zone, too, but Tremon Smith fielded it and attempted a return.

Because the ball bounced, the Rams’ coverage team could leave the line before Smith even got his hands on the ball – and they swarmed the Texans returner at the 23-yard line, a return of only 11 yards.

The Rams attempted three kickoffs and the Texans started at their own 20-yard line twice, and once at their own 23. Had the Rams kicked traditional touchbacks like they had been last year, the Texans would’ve started at the 35-yard line each time. That’s a massive difference, and Sean McVay couldn’t have been happier with the results.