Why could the Kansas City Chiefs remove Harrison Butker from kickoffs?

Despite the media storm that surrounds him, the Kansas City Chiefs have made it clear that the reason they’re considering taking away the kickoff duties from their starting kicker, has nothing to do with recent issues, but rather the league’s rules.

Why are the Chiefs considering reducing Harrison Butker’s responsibilities?

By now you’ve likely seen the debate that surrounds Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, as a result of the commencement speech that he gave at a private Catholic college recently. Indeed, Butker’s speech has sparked a national debate about the role of women in society among a number of other topics. This of course brings us to recent reports which only add fuel to the fire, but with a caveat. To be clear, reports suggest that the Chiefs are considering taking Butker off of kickoff duties this coming season. The thing is, this reportedly has nothing to do with the recent backlash that he and the franchise have faced.

As things stand, it’s understood that the new rules implemented in March dictate that any ball kicked into the “landing zone” from the goal line to the 20-yard line must be returned i.e., fair catches are no longer allowed. To that end, balls that bounce from the landing zone into the end zone must either be returned or downed for a touchback. What that means in principle is two things: Firstly, the likelihood of returns which means kickers may be required to tackle during a kickoff return. Then, there is what Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub described on Thursday as a strategic intention to ground the ball at a distance from the opponent’s kick returner which in turn allows defensive players to track before the ball is picked up.

What’s more is that Toub explained that the new rules along with the tactics that result from it get the kicker involved in tackling with more frequency, something that the XFL has demonstrated for quite some time now. “If you watch the XFL, we watched every play,” Toub said. “I bet kickers were involved in probably at least 25 to 40% of the tackles, you know, either trying to make a guy bounce back or making the tackle itself or just missing the tackle.”

OK, but does that work for Harrison Butker?

Truth be told, we’re not sure and what we can assume from Toub’s comments is that the Chiefs don’t want Butker having to enter the fray with frequency across the season. If there is a silver lining, it’s that the Chiefs have already made moves with safety Justin Reid who is set to be the team’s backup kicker.

It may be that Reid’s name is familiar and that’s because he was the kicker in the Chiefs’ Week 1 game versus the Arizona Cardinals during the 2022-23 season. During that contest, Reid notched even kickoffs (with five touchbacks) and two extra points. It’s also worth noting that Toub has gone a step further, stating that Reid should make kickoff coverage better, citing his experience with pursuing and tackling as a safety, as well as the fact that opposing teams can’t direct a return toward a typical kicker who might not be able to make a play against blockers and ballcarriers.

“Justin can cover. I mean, he could kick, he can, and then he can go down there and make tackles,” said Toub. “You know, he’s an extra guy that they’re probably not accounting for. I mean, they know that that guy can go down to tackle, but a guy like Justin is a guy that they have to worry about. You have to get him blocked and you have to give up blocking somebody else.”