Chiefs Considering Not Using Harrison Butker for Kickoffs After NFL Rule Change

Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub told reporters that the team may no longer use kicker Harrison Butker on kickoffs due to the NFL’s new kickoff rule.

Instead, the team may opt to use safety Justin Reid or running back Louis Rees-Zammit, an ex-rugby union player.

Essentially, the new rules put kickers in a situation where they have a far greater chance to make a tackle.

The new rules are notably very similar to the old XFL kickoff rules. Toub said the team went back and looked at all the kickoffs and added that kickers were involved in 25 to 40 percent of the tackles. He doesn’t want Butker having to make tackles all season and risk injury, hence the change-up here.

The story here might be that Reid, a six-year starting safety and two-time Super Bowl champion, can handle the kickoff duties per one of the game’s all-time top special teams coordinators.

Reid, on occasion, has been used on kickoffs and extra points. He drilled this one in 2022.

Reid also filled in for an injured Butker in Week 1 of the 2022 season temporarily:

And he once nailed a 65-yard field goal in practice:

He’s certainly a great luxury to have under these new rules, allowing the Chiefs to protect Butker, whose nine Super Bowl field goals stand as a league record, from injury.

We’ll see what the Chiefs decide soon enough when they kick the season off on Sept. 5 versus the Baltimore Ravens.