Competition Committee has not discussed onside kick alternative

The NFL’s Competition Committee did not discuss the alternative to the onside kick during their meeting on Sunday at the Scouting Combine, Mark Maske reports.

The dynamic kickoff has essentially made the onside kick irrelevant, with a minuscule success rate, as teams now have to declare an onside kick before the kickoff. (The success rate of the onside kick began falling after the NFL banned running starts on kickoffs in 2018.)

PFT reported earlier this month that the NFL would consider replacing the onside kick with a fourth-and-13 play. (Or a fourth-and-15 or a fourth-and-20 instead of an onside kick.)

“It didn’t get talked about yet,” Rich McKay, the co-chairman of the Competition Committee, said, via Maske. “We’ll see. I do think that the onside kick recovery issue . . . is a real one that you’ve seen the statistics. You’ve seen where the numbers went. And at some point, it would be nice to see those move back to a more historical place. That’s just one person’s view. And you know what one person’s view doesn’t get you? Twenty-four votes.”

McKay was referring to the 24 votes from NFL owners that is needed for a rule change.