The Kansas City Chiefs will have a new kickoff specialist in 2024.
Justin Reid, a six-year NFL veteran free safety, will have to update his position title this season. Reid will be the Chiefs’ kicker on kickoffs due to the NFL’s recent rule change.
Beginning this season, kickoffs in the NFL will look very different. Rather than having the kicking team start at their own 35-yard line, everyone (aside from the kicker) will be on the receiving team’s 40-yard line.
They won’t be able to move until the kick returner catches the ball, and then all chaos will ensue.
The NFL has tried to crack down on kickoffs over the last few seasons, as the head-on collisions at high speeds caused tons of injuries. However, the rule changes essentially took kickoffs out of the game.
While Baltimore Ravens All-Pro kicker Justin Tucker said he’s hit the weight room this offseason to better be prepared to make tackles as the team’s last line of defense (by a lot) on kickoffs, the Chiefs are planning on using a different player altogether.
The advantage for us is that if I’m doing the job, which is what we’re planning on doing, then I can fill that last gap, so it makes it a little bit easier, and nobody needs to win two gaps,” Reid said on the podcast.
“Although I know he (Butker) 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.”
Reid has stepped in as the team’s kickoff specialist before, but will now have much greater responsibilities as he quickly shifts from kicking to tackling.
He’s up for the challenge, though, and excited about his career potentially being prolonged.
