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After making big rule changes to the kickoff before this season, the NFL is ready to shake up punt plays as well, according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN. There is one big twist: the league wants to crowdsource ideas from people from the analytics community.
The NFL will receive ideas during the 1st and Future Project, which will present their ideas on February 2nd in Atlanta, the site of this year's Super Bowl.
According to research completed by the NFL before the beginning of this season, the kickoff is five times more likely to cause a concussion than other plays. In second is the punt, which is two times more likely to cause concussions.
Rich McKay who is the CEO of the Atlanta Falcons and the head of the competition committee, wouldn't commit to using an idea given by the general public, but he said the punt has been a frustrating play for years because of the injuries as well as the number of penalties called.
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“We know our fans are not big fans of every play ending in a penalty,” McKay said, “and that's one thing we definitely want to look at.”
The league will provide information and stats, including next generation stats, to Biocore, an engineering firm that works with the NFL. They're aiming to find a solution to make the play safer and also help cut down on the penalties called on returns.
Look for more information about this story to come out near the time of the Super Bowl.
