Gene Frenette: Jaguars can take advantage of NFL kickoff rule with home-run hitter Duvernay
With the NFL adopting a new hybrid kickoff rule for the 2024 season, implementing the XFL/USFL model, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Jaguars are among a small group of teams taking advantage of the radical change.
Since kicks will generally land between the goal line and 20-yard line (balls kicked out of the end zone automatically go to the 30-yard line, along with fair catches in the end zone), it is expected more than 80 percent of kickoffs will be returned, compared to less than 22 percent last year.
The new rule, where 10 defenders line up at the opposing team’s 40-yard-line and nine blockers are between the 30 and 35, gives kickoff teams a much greater chance to impact the game. Defenders outside of the kicker are prohibited from moving until the ball is touched or hits the ground.
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As New Orleans Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi put it: “We feel like we’ve revived a dying play.”
For Jaguars’ special teams coordinator Heath Farwell, that should be good news because Jacksonville’s personnel in the kick return game could give them an edge in that department.
Last year, the Jaguars were 11th in the league with a 23.7-yard kick return average, thanks mostly to the exploits of Jamal Agnew, who finished with a 26.1-yard average. They finished in the bottom five in kickoff coverage at 25.4 yards, a number elevated by allowing an 85-yard kickoff TD return by Houston Texans fullback Andrew Beck.
While Agnew is now a free agent, the signing of Baltimore Ravens return specialist Devin Duvernay, 26, in free agency should offset that loss because of his home-run ability.
Since Duvernay came into the NFL in 2020, he’s one of only four players – along with Kene Nurangwu, Cordarrelle Patterson and Nyheim Hines – who has at least two kick return TDs.
It’s too early to know how the NFL will adjust to the new kickoff rule, but it should help the Jaguars that they retained some key special-teams core players like Daniel Thomas, Caleb Johnson and D’Ernest Johnson.
Despite the Jaguars having only two kick return TDs in the past 15 years (Agnew in 2021 against the Denver Broncos, Marqise Lee against the Houston Texans in 2016), the amended kickoff alignment will create more opportunities to gain ideal field position.
It’ll be up to Farwell, possibly with some input from offensive line coach Phil Rauscher since the defenders and blockers are now so close to each other, to get creative with strategy to make the Jaguars effective both in return and kickoff coverage.
A Trevor Lawrence-led offense will get a nice boost if Duvernay can get the Jaguars near midfield or beyond off his returns at least once every couple games.
Whether this new rule sticks around beyond 2024 is to be determined, but the Jaguars have the pieces on special teams where this new rule could play out in their favor.
Masters trivia
A total of 16 golfers have won the Masters on Easter Sunday, but only one player did it twice. Who is he? Answer at bottom.
ACC bully of the ball
When Virginia got blown out 67-42 by Colorado State in a First Four matchup in the NCAA tournament, many wondered if it was an ominous sign for the ACC, which endured its share of criticism as lacking punch outside bluebloods North Carolina and Duke.
The ACC response: an improbable nine consecutive wins on college basketball’s biggest stage, which got snapped Thursday night when Alabama rallied late to knock off top-seeded UNC, 89-87.
Still, going into Friday’s Sweet 16 matchups of Duke-Houston and North Carolina State-Marquette, the ACC could potentially put three teams in the Elite Eight.
Clemson, a No. 6 seed, has ridden the hot shooting hand of guard Chase Hunter to the Elite Eight, including upsets of third-seeded Baylor and No. 1 seed Arizona.
While Duke took care of outmanned victims James Madison and Vermont, the real Cinderella story is No. 11 seed North Carolina State. The Wolfpack had to win five games in five days to win the ACC tournament and steal an NCAA bid.
Instead of fatigue setting in, N.C. State gutted out a 79-73 overtime win over Kentucky giant-killer Oakland to reach the Sweet 16. A career game by 6-foot-9, 275-pound forward D.J. Burns Jr. (24 points and 11 rebounds) and his effusive personality has turned him into a tournament darling.
Though tournament favorite UConn continues to flex its muscle, don’t overlook how the ACC is sticking it to critics like myself (I had zero teams in the Sweet 16) who were dismissive of the league’s March Madness impact.
Jacob Crews’ winding road to SEC
Four years ago, after a 2,500-point scoring career at Hilliard ultimately led the Flashes to a Class 1A state title game appearance, Jacob Crews signed with the University of North Florida. The plan was for him to become a long-range shooting force at a program noted for its “Birds of Trey” moniker.
Instead, Crews became a college basketball nomad, transferring to Daytona State College after averaging a meager 2.6 points per game for UNF. After averaging 19.9 points at DSC, Crews moved on to UT-Martin, finishing as the third-leading scorer (19.1 ppg, 8.2 rebounds) in the Ohio Valley Conference this past season.
When Crews decided to put his name in the transfer portal on March 11, the 6-foot-8 guard drew interest from prominent national programs like Kansas, Gonzaga, UCLA and Illinois. He was ranked as a top-50 prospect among over 900 players in the portal.
On Wednesday, Crews signed with Missouri, so he might be the only player from Northeast Florida next season to suit up for an SEC men's program. He just had to jump through a lot of hoops to get there.
Auriemma dissing on Clark?
Not sure why UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma chose to call Huskies’ star Paige Bueckers “the best player in America” after beating Syracuse to advance to the Sweet 16, but it’s curious timing when you consider the otherworldly numbers put up by Iowa sensation Caitlin Clark.
Here was Auriemma’s justification for that opinion: “Just saying that because the numbers, in this world of analytics, say that she is. And the whole stat sheet says that she is. And everybody that watched knows it.”
Bueckers probably had her best game of the season with 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists against Syracuse, and Auriemma is normally spot-on with hoops judgments related to his team. Not this time.
Part of this was Auriemma just standing up for his first-team, All-American, as any head coach should do. But for him to suggest Bueckers is the nation’s best player, as if everybody accepts it as fact, that’s a false narrative.
What is believable is Auriemma engaging in a bit of psychological warfare in case Iowa and UConn meet in the national semifinals.
Bueckers’ showing against Syracuse was her third double-double of the past two weeks after not having any all season. Well, Clark has 21 double-doubles and six triple-doubles this season.
A former national Player of the Year, Bueckers is brilliantly efficient, versatile and a unique presence in multiple ways for UConn, as is USC freshman JuJu Watkins.
It doesn’t make either of them the best player in America. That distinction belongs to Clark, even if it’s a debatable topic.
Quick-hitting nuggets
A big thumbs-down to NFL owners for agreeing to schedule two games on Christmas Day. Not because of it being Christmas, but those games this year are on a Wednesday, which brings obvious competitive imbalance.
So four teams will either get a lengthy mini-bye before their next game or be forced into a quick turnaround. That is blatantly unfair, given how the importance of games and health concerns ratchet up late in the season. It’s another example of commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners putting TV dollars ahead of player safety. . . .
When Florida’s basketball team lost 102-100 to Colorado in the NCAA tournament, featuring the Gators’ last 16 points scored by Will Clayton Jr., it marked the first time in 20 years that a losing team in March Madness hit the century mark in regulation. UAB beat Washington by the same 102-100 score in 2004. . . .
For those who think parity is prominent in women’s college basketball, the NCAA tournament is evidence to the contrary. Of the first 48 games, the higher-seeded women’s team has won 44 times, and two of those matchups were No. 5 seeds beating a No. 4. The only real upsets were No. 11 Middle Tennessee State knocking off sixth-seeded Louisville, then No. 7 Duke beating No. 2 Ohio State to reach the Sweet 16.
Trivia answer
The only golfer to win the Masters twice on Easter Sunday is Jimmy Demaret in 1947 and 1950, the first two times the tournament was held on that holy day. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods combined for 11 green jackets without ever winning on Easter. Nicklaus’ 18-hole playoff win in 1966 over Gay Brewer and Tommy Jacobs came on a Monday, the day after Easter.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Happy returns: Jaguars signing Duvernay a benefit with new NFL kickoff rule
