Kurt Warner questions new NFL kickoff rules ‘skewing things’ for offense

Everyone from the guy at your local sports bar to the sitting president has weighed in on the NFL’s new kickoff rules. And rightfully so. The new rules have taken kickoffs from a mere formality to a play that generates actual excitement at a much higher rate.

But the rules have had some unintended consequences, at least according to one NFL analyst. Taking to the social media platform X recently, NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner described why he thinks the new NFL kickoff rules are a bit problematic.

I do enjoy watching kickoff returns again… but did NFL Competition Committee take into consideration how good kickers are now??? Drives need to be like 15 yards on average to get into FG range… seems to be skewing things even more for the offense!! I think everything should be…

— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) September 27, 2025

“I do enjoy watching kickoff returns again… but did NFL Competition Committee take into consideration how good kickers are now???” the Super Bowl-winning quarterback wrote. “Drives need to be like 15 yards on average to get into FG range… seems to be skewing things even more for the offense!! I think everything should be earned… not given!”

With the new rules, more drives are starting further up the field. Touchbacks now take the ball to the 35-yardline, and kickers are nailing 60-yarders as if the league allows helium in the K-balls. The result? As Warner suggests, offenses don’t have to move the ball very far before getting into field goal range. When the offense only needs one first down before having a reasonable chance at scoring points, it changes the entire dynamic of the game.

The NFL has proven it is open to tweaking the kickoff rules in recent years, implementing major changes each of the past two seasons. So if the league sees this as a problem, perhaps they’ll do some further tweaking down the line. But to Warner’s point, the NFL has regularly shifted the rules to favor better offense and more points, which the new kickoffs accomplish. A more likely change might be a return to the old K-balls, which weren’t allowed to be broken in prior to gameday before this season.

So far, the new kickoff rules have accomplished what the NFL wants: more kickoff returns. But in conjunction with longer field goals, it might become a bit of a problem. Surely the NFL Competition Committee will reevaluate at the end of the season, and Warner’s concerns could be addressed.