I agree with Mike in that most of the violent hits take place while the kickoff is still in the air for the reasons he described. Punts are far less dangerous because the players are running alongside one another. I have heard someone put forth the proposal to make kickoffs like punt returns where the players start closer together. The problem with that, on the surface, is that the kicking team could try to pooch the kickoff to get a fair catch, and then you’re back to the receiving team putting more bodies back there.
On the other hand, if you allow the receiving team 3 players (or 2) to be more than 15 yards from the kickoff line, we could see a lot more attempted “onside” kicks with the pooch kick. Then you have to decide, do I kick it deep or go for getting the ball back where I might give the receiving team the ball near midfield. That would change the game but might be fun. Any change changes the game.
