Jacksonville Jaguars: New touchback rule helps team

The Jacksonville Jaguars have struggled at returning kicks, failing to have a true threat as a return specialist for years, which makes the 2016 rule change of moving the touchback to the 25-yard line beneficial to the team.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had an average starting position of just the 26 yard line in the 2015 NFL season according to Football Outsiders. That wasn’t among the league’s worst (seven teams were at 25 yards or worse) but it also isn’t among the NFL’s best.

With the recent NFL rule change for the 2016 season that moves the touchback forward five yards to the 25-yard line, the Jaguars will be a team to benefit. While it is a rule that continues the trend of removing kickoff returns as a viable part of the game, it is a rule that will provide a bit of an equalizer for the teams across the league.

The Jaguars featured three kickoff returners with averages above 25 yards: Nick Marhsall, Corey Grant, and Denard Robinson. Combined, all three of them only had a total sample size of 23, which is hardly enough to draw true conclusions from their production. The Jags, as a team, averaged just 23.3 yards per return.

Being able to begin on the 25-yard line will be beneficial for the Jags. The team’s offense was clicking multiple times in 2015, but often stalled. There is hope for the future, especially with Blake Bortles throwing the ball to his talented wide receivers, but the Jags can use all the help they can get at this point in their development. A free five yards off a touchback rather than risking running it out of the end zone (which is included in kickoff return averages) is a major benefit to the Jags.

While it is tough to think of a rule that is essentially working to eliminate an exciting part of the game as beneficial, the Jaguars are decidedly one of the few teams that really come out ahead here. Without a true returner threat on the team (Marshall and Grant are promising, though), the Jags should take advantage and start far more drives from their own 25-yard line rather than chancing a return that may not yield that many yards.

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Hopefully the Jags develop a return specialist on kickoffs, but until then, the 2016 rule change (which is only test) is a boon for the team.