A statistical on whether NFL teams should attempt more onside kicks. The answer is yes, sort of. If an opposing team is not expecting an onside kick, the rate of recovery is actually quite good, around 60%. However:

The catch is that teams can’t do this very often. The key is that the onside attempt is unexpected. As soon as a team is known for sneaky onside kicks, its success rate will go down. But this isn’t such a bad thing. As opponents are forced to respect the threat of an onside kick, their normal kick return blocking will suffer, allowing overall net kickoff distance to improve. Ultimately, there would be an equilibrium, making life more difficult for the receiving team.

Thanks, Dave!