We will see what they really do when the season starts. They might not fair catch against Eastern Podunk College of Bartending but they will vs teams like Georgia and Clemson.
It's tempting to look at what will go wrong but I'm hesitant to go that far--right now. Every team in the SEC last season averaged 20 yards or more in kick returns (conference play) sans one. My biggest issue is if they are truly interested in player safety, and that's their only motivating factor, why didn't they just move the kickoff back to the 40 yard line. They moved it to the 35 because they felt there were too many touchbacks. Now, they're instituting a new rule which will lead to the same end result--fewer run backs. A lot will look at the 20 vs 25 yard line as just five yards. I look at it in terms of whether a team is in or out of field goal range. This rule also leads me to believe this isn't all about player safety but there's another underlying motive--another advantage geared towards offense.
