Chiefs K Harrison Butker may lose part of his job and it has nothing to do with his controversial speech
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has been in the news lately for controversial comments made during a commencement speech at Benedictine College. In response to the comments, over 220,000 people have called for the Chiefs to dismiss Butker from the team. Those people will be disappointed to learn that Kansas City won't release Butker despite […]
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has been in the news lately for controversial comments made during a commencement speech at Benedictine College. In response to the comments, over 220,000 people have called for the Chiefs to dismiss Butker from the team.
Those people will be disappointed to learn that Kansas City won't release Butker despite their outrage. However, they might be pleased to know that he's already at risk of losing part of his job because of the NFL's new kickoff rules.
The NFL designed the new kickoff rules to increase kick returns and make what had become a dying play more exciting. Kickers have always been the last line of defense on kickoffs, but with an expectation for an increasing number of kick returns, having a kicker who can take the proper angles and tackle might become something that NFL teams covet, want to have, and use with greater frequency.
The Chiefs are considering using S Justin Reid instead of Harrison Butker on kickoffs
Kansas City might be one of the few NFL teams best set up to use an alternate player for kickoffs. That's because their emergency kicker already plays on the defensive side of the ball.
If you flashback to the 2022 NFL season, when Harrison Butker suffered an ankle injury in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals, the Chiefs called on Justin Reid as their emergency kicker. He was a youth soccer player and a kicker during high school, calling on that experience to help his team in a dire moment. During that game, Reid made one of two extra points attempted and had seven kickoffs totaling five touchbacks.
With the new kickoff rules, hangtime doesn't matter so much as accuracy, but Reid still clearly has the leg to make it work.
At the end of last Wednesday's OTAs practice, Chiefs HC Andy Reid was asked directly if it would be advantageous to have Justin Reid over Harrison Butker on the new kickoffs to have another "tackler" on the field. His answer was telling.
“Potentially," Reid said. "Once you get through that first wall, there’s not a whole lot past that other than that guy (the kicker).”
The fact that he didn't entirely dismiss the notion tells you the team is considering it as a legitimate option. Having that extra tackler, specifically one with experience in the safety role, could be a major boon as a last line of defense saving a touchdown. Maybe it will only occur on specific plays, but having that option in your arsenal can only help as NFL teams adjust to the new kickoff rules on the fly this fall.
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