Cincinnati Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons joins us today on In the Trenches with Dave Lapham to discuss the 2024 punter battle and the new kickoff rules for the 2024 season. 

The Bengals currently have three punters battling it out for the starting job: 2023 draft pick Brad Robbins, Austin McNamara, a college free agent from Texas Tech, and Ryan Rehkow, a college free agent from BYU. 

Coach Simmons is impressed with all three, each with its strengths and weaknesses. Simmons says the battle will be cut to two by the time the Bengals play their first preseason game next Saturday. 

One of the biggest changes for the 2024 NFL season is the new kickoff. Adopting the XFL kickoff will totally change the play and hopefully make it more exciting, with the goal of achieving safer returns. 

Coach Simmons explains the new kickoff in a great and easy-to-understand way. 

We want to thank Coach Simmons for always being a fantastic guest and for joining us today on In the Trenches with Dave Lapham, brought to you by First Star Logistics. We also look forward to growing our new central channel, First Star Media Group, and having you fans follow us along the ride. A lot more content is coming soon so definitely hit that subscribe button so you never miss one of our uploads!