Chiefs said they’d go bold with new kickoff tactic. Here’s why they changed their mind

Kansas City Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub admits he’s both “excited and nervous” about how the NFL’s new kickoff rule will play out this year.

And he’s thought about it enough, it turns out, to already change his mind about how he wants to handle one of the most important positions.

Toub said Saturday that Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker would be handling kickoff duties this season, which was an about-face from comments he made in late May .

“Butker’s going to be our main kickoff guy. I mean, hands down,” Toub said. “Because he can move the ball and do a lot of different things. He’s our most talented kickoff guy.”

During Organized Team Activities, Toub had a different preference. On May 30, Toub told reporters that he preferred a kickoff guy “who can make a tackle” before saying, “Butker is able to make a tackle, but I don’t want him making tackles all year long.”

That led to a belief that the Chiefs would likely use either safety Justin Reid or running back Louis Rees-Zammit as a kickoff specialist.

Given more time to assess, Toub believes Butker is the Chiefs’ best option for the role.

Some skill will be needed. Toub says teams will not want much hang time with kicks, as the coverage team can start running once the ball touches the ground in the target zone (any place between the 20-yard line and the goal line). Also, if a kicker mishits a line drive to a returner, Toub believes the opposing team will easily return it to the 30 — if not further.

“So, you have to try to kick it away from the returners if you can, hit in the target zone and skip in the end zone, possibly for a touchback, where (the opponent gets) the ball at the 20,” Toub said. “That’s the ultimate goal on kickoff.”

It’s certainly possible Toub might change the Chiefs’ approach later this season as well.

A normal touchback — with the kicker booting it into or through the end zone — now gives the opponent the ball on the 30-yard line. So if the NFL sees an uptick in long kickoff returns, could the Chiefs simply tell Butker to boot the ball through the end zone like he did most of last season?

Toub said that scenario could happen.

“If we’re not happy with our kickoff coverage, we’ll go to that. We’re going to do what’s best for the team,” Toub said. “If we feel giving up five yards is better than trying to pin them deep with a different kind of kick, we’ll kick touchbacks, because Butker can kick touchbacks.”

Toub admits there are still many unknowns regarding the NFL’s kickoff rule, which was implemented to increase action while decreasing full-speed collisions. Even veteran NFL official John Hussey, during a talk with reporters Saturday following Chiefs practice at Missouri Western, said this change would require some time for everyone to adjust.

“It is a work in progress,” Hussey said. “That’s how it’s been explained to us.”

Perhaps most essential for the Chiefs will be getting the kick returners right. Because every kickoff in play has to be fielded now, being able to field squib-type kicks will be more valued than in years past.

The Chiefs, in early practices, have had Rees-Zammit and receiver Nikko Remigio as their first-string returners.

Toub indicated in late May that the Chiefs were working diligently to be one of the NFL’s best in this new facet.

“The team that figures it out (on) kickoff and kickoff return is going to really excel early,” Toub said then. ”We want to be that team.”