Dave Toub confirms suspicion about Harrison Butker handling kickoff duties for the Chiefs in 2024
Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub confirmed a major suspicion regarding the team's strategy for kickoffs following OTAs on Thursday. Earlier this week we wrote that the Chiefs were considering taking kickoff duties away from Harrison Butker with the new NFL kickoff rules. When media members got a look at practice on Thursday, they […]
Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub confirmed a major suspicion regarding the team's strategy for kickoffs following OTAs on Thursday.
Earlier this week we wrote that the Chiefs were considering taking kickoff duties away from Harrison Butker with the new NFL kickoff rules. When media members got a look at practice on Thursday, they were surprised to find that both S Justin Reid and RB Louis Rees-Zammit were practicing kickoffs in the role of the kicker.
After practice, Toub confirmed that they don't want Butker doing kickoffs on a down-to-down basis because of the frequency with which they expect kickers to be involved in making tackles on kickoffs. Instead, they aim to use players like Reid or Rees-Zammit as kickoff specialists.
"I like to have somebody that can go back who is able to make a tackle," Toub said. "Butker is able to make a tackle, but I really don't want him making tackles all year long. If you watch the XFL — we watched every play — I bet kickers were involved in probably at least 25-40% of the tackles, either trying to make a guy bounce back, or making the tackle itself, or just missing the tackle. We don't want Butker in that situation, but he will be a kicker. He'll be a guy we'll use in certain situations. He's got a lot of ability to move the ball, whereas the other guys may not be as apt at doing that, and we'll use him."
Butker, of course, will still be the primary kicker for PATs and field goals. There are certain situations where Butker will be used on kickoffs. At the end of the game, for instance, if the Chiefs have a lead and don't want to risk a return. At the same time, they don't want to give up extra yardage and kick touchbacks on every play.
"He can still kick a touchback if we need it," Toub said of Butker. "You know, you just give up the ball. If we do kick a touchdown back in the endzone, now they're getting up to 30 instead of the 25. So that five yards makes a big difference. I mean, that's another 3% chance that you're given the offense against you to score."
There is one key difference between the XFL kickoff and the NFL's hybrid kickoff. NFL kickers can't cross the 50-yard line until a ball has been caught or hits the landing zone. In the XFL the kickers had no such restrictions, which made it easier for them to be involved in the play. Still, having a player like Justin Reid, who can kick and tackle, can be a major boon because it forces teams to account for them.
"Justin (Reid) can cover, he can kick," Toub said. "He can go down there and make tackles. He's an extra guy they're probably not accounting for. They know that guy can go down and tackle, but a guy like Justin is a guy they have to worry about. You have to get him blocked, and you have to give up blocking somebody else. That's the whole thought of that."
Ultimately, with the new rules, priorities are changing for what does and doesn't matter on kickoffs. Accuracy on kickoffs is going to be much more important now, whereas hangtime used to play a significant factor.
"Hangtime doesn't matter at all now," Toub explained. "So hangtime is out the door. I mean, you could do it. But it's not doesn't mean anything. But you know, so now it's about accuracy, seeing what you're getting, how the returners are lined up, and then trying to kick away from them in the corners. But you can't take too much risk. Because if you hit it out of bounds, now you're giving the ball about the 40, if you hit it short of the targets, only given a bolt in the 40. So I mean, there's a there's a fine line between, you know, pushing the limits and the edges. And then or just going down and saying, 'Hey, we can cover it, we're going to give them a ball they can cover.' And then get down there with a kicker that that can cover."
Chiefs are making the right call when it comes to WR Xavier Worthy’s minor hamstring injury
Holding Xavier Worthy out of practice remains the right call for the Kansas City Chiefs.
