Throughout the offseason, it has seemed like the Kansas City Chiefs were prepared to use safety Justin Reid as their kickoff specialist instead of kicker Harrison Butker, given how often a kicker might have to make a tackle in the new kickoff format. But it sounds like those plans have changed.
Earlier this offseason, Kansas City Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub indicated that the team was planning to use safety Justin Reid as their primary kickoff man given his ability to make a tackle, claiming that Harrison Butker would only be used “in certain situations.”
“I like to have somebody that’s able to make a tackle. Butker’s able to make a tackle, but I really don’t want him making tackles all year long,” Toub said back in May. “If you watch the XFL, we watched every play, I’d bet kickers were involved in probably at least 25-40% of the tackles… we don’t want Butker in that situation. But he will be a kicker. He will be a guy we’ll use in certain situations.”
Reid further cemented this idea when he indicated that he was preparing as if he was going to be the team’s full-time kickoff specialist and Butker would be saved for field goals and extra points.
“We’re in a great place with it,” Reid said last month. “Although I know he can make some tackles, I think he’s excited to preserve himself, and we can use him where we really need him, which is those fourth-quarter situations to go nail a 60-yard field goal and win the game. It would be devastating to try and trot a guy out there who’s still nicked up from trying to make a tackle in the second quarter.”
But it seems like Toub has changed his mind.
“Butker’s going to be our main kickoff guy. I mean, hands down,” Toub said during an interview this week according to Jesse Newell of the Kansas City Star. “Because he can move the ball and do a lot of different things. He’s our most talented kickoff guy.”
Clearly, the plans changed at some point.
