It's Just 5 Yards... Right?

LFL can wait until next week. It's kind of embarrassing anyway...

The NFL has moved the spot for kickoffs up 5 yards from the 30 to the 35 yard line. When I first heard about it I didn't think it would be a really big deal. It was just 1994 that kickoffs were moved back to the 30 yard line anyway. So what could happen in 17 years that would make this a big deal? I even heard somewhere that the average kickoff last year ended up 5 1/4 yards in front of the goal line. So logic would tell me the average kickoff from the new spot should end up just about at the goal line. But through three weeks of the preseason it looks like I was WAY off! In fact, I can't believe the uproar it has caused amongst players and sportswriters alike.

So far in the preseason, kickers seem to be booting the ball out of the back of the end zone (10 yards) for touchbacks quite regularly. So how is it that moving the ball forward 5 yards gets the ball kicked 15 yards past the average landing spot last year? Well, my initial thought concerns how the average landing spot last year was determined*. But even so, I've seen a few kickers put the ball through the uprights on kickoffs. If kickers are able to do that from the 35 yard line, shouldn't they have been able to put the ball at least 5-7 yards deep in the end zone last year from the 30 yard line? Sounds logical to me but that doesn't seem to be the way it's working.

I suppose there are also warm weather considerations. But how much further will a ball travel in warm air than cold (wind is not a consideration)? To me it seems like the added humidity of summer would cancel out the air density factors of warm air versus cold. So, maybe the ball travels 2-3 yards further in summer?

Anyway, all of this is my long-winded way of saying, "I don't get it, how does 5 yards become 15?" Maybe someone can explain it to me.

Just Joe

* Was every kick into the end zone just considered a "zero" when calculating the average or was the depth into the end zone considered? Example: let's look at two different calculation scenarios. Let's say a kickoff lands at the 5 yard line and a second kickoff lands 7 yards deep into the end zone. If every kick into the end zone is simply considered a touchback -- probably considered the 0 yard line -- then the average of those two kicks would be 2 1/2 yards in front of the end zone. If the 7 yards into the end zone is considered, then the average would actually be -1 or 1 yard into the endzone.



NEXT WEEK:  LFL (maybe)