According to Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub, who is considered one of the best coaches at his position in the NFL and has received interviews for head coaching openings in the past, the NFL’s new kickoff rules may have an unintended consequence: Not having a kicker on the field at all. Toub recently stated that the NFL’s new “XFL-style” kickoff approach puts the kickoff specialist in a position to make more tackles. Per Toub, he estimated that kickers were “involved” in 25 to 40 percent of the XFL’s kickoff returns.
In “certain situations,” such as the team having a late lead in the game, he added, the Chiefs would use Harrison Butker as their place kicker. In these cases, the team would simply decide to kick the ball out of the end zone and accept a five-yard penalty, giving the opposing offense the ball at the 30-yard line rather than giving them a chance at a kickoff return.
Just ten non-specialists kicked the ball on NFL kickoffs in the previous season. Six came from kickoff specialist Dare Ogunbowale of the Houston Texans, who filled in for an injured kickoff specialist during the second half of the team’s Week 9 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Justin Reid, a starting safety who led the Chiefs in 2022 with seven kickoffs and two extra point attempts, is reportedly considering becoming the team’s primary kickoff specialist. Therefore, it would be an understatement to say that the NFL rule revisions this year will give the kickoff a new perspective at this point.
Rich Bisaccia, the special teams coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, has not yet revealed if the team will use a non-kicker as a kickoff specialist. Under Bisaccia, their kickoff man has been the placekicker rather than a punter or positional player. At the moment, reserve/futures player Jack Podlesny, free agency signing Greg Joseph, and incumbent starter Anders Carlson are vying for the same roster spot as the starting kicker in the Packers camp. However, it remains to be seen whether a defender happens to show off a leg during camp, forcing Bisaccia to take a different route on kickoff team.
