8-2-1 Kickoff Return: The Bandwagon is Growing!

Great article here by former Dolphins and Jets Special Teams Coordinator Mike Westoff on SI's MMQB  talking about his idea of a 8-2-1 Kickoff Return.  Duece from the Football is Life blog was the first one to come up with the radical idea of the 8-2-1 Kickoff Return and I did an article on the 8-2-1 Kickoff Return here back in February proposing it as a solution to the NFL's safety problem.  This idea that was initially dismissed as a gimmick is now starting to gain serious consideration as a viable solution to the NFL's safety problem as well as a way to restore the importance of the kickoff return in professional football.

Check out the 8-2-1 diagram from the article by Westoff:

Solving the NFL's Safety Problem: The 8-2-1 Kickoff Return

I believe that Duece's 8-2-1 Kickoff Return can be the solution to the NFL's concussion problem. Not that he needs me to validate him, but this idea should not be so easily dismissed without evaluating it on its merit.  Let me start by saying that when I first heard about the 8-2-1 KR that I thought it was the Special Team version of the A-11 Offense (read: gimmick), but I let Duece clinic me on the subject recently and I became convinced. 

Virginia Tech Helmet Study

Nice to see that more is being done in terms of helmets and safety research. Here is the link to the ESPN article by Gregg Easterbrook which can be found here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook-110719_virginia_tech_helmet_study&sportCat=nfl.

Some highlights of the article:

"Virginia Tech researchers give high marks to these helmets: the Riddell Speed, Riddell Revolution, Riddell Revolution IQ; the Schutt Ion 4D and Schutt DNA; and the Xenith X1. The Virginia Tech researchers give medium grades to the Schutt Air XP and Schutt Air Advantage. The Virginia Tech rankings warn players not to wear these helmets: the Riddell VSR4 and the Adams A2000."

"Now the chilling part: the VSR4 -- Virginia Tech's second-lowest-rated helmet -- was the most common helmet in the NFL last season. The VSR4 is widely worn in college and high school, too. Immediately after the Virginia Tech findings were released, Riddell advised football teams to stop using the VSR4, long the company's best seller."

"Duma further notes there is no correlation between helmet price and safety. The lowest-ranked helmet, the Adams A2000, costs $200, while the four-star Schutt DNA retails for $170. The DNA looks like the best value on the market -- nearly as good in safety ranking as the top-rated Riddell Speed, but costs about $75 less. This can matter if you're buying 100 helmets for a high school or small college."

"The NFL's data, and this study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh, suggest that advanced helmets -- basically the ones Virginia Tech found to be four- or five-star -- lower the risk of concussion by about one-third."