Sports

Chiefs Plan To Use Safety Justin Reid As Kicker On Kickoffs Due To New Rules

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Getty Image / Perry Knotts


Justin Reid has made his living in the NFL covering NFL skill guys and helping out in the run game as a safety for the Houston Texans and now the Kansas City Chiefs. But, he’s going to have a new job when this upcoming season starts.

Due to huge changes in NFL kickoff rules, Justin Reid is likely to be the kicker on kickoffs for the two-time defending champions, relegating Harrison Butker to the bench.

First, if you’re unfamiliar with the new kickoff rules, here is a rundown.

  • The ball will be kicked from kicking team’s 35-yard-line
  • The other ten players on the kick coverage team will line up at the opposing team’s 40-yard-line
  • the returning team must have at least seven players in the “set-up zone” between their own 30 and 35-yard lines.
  • There is a landing zone between the goal line and the 20-yard line that the ball must be kicked into. A max of two kick returns can be in the landing zone.
  • Once the ball is kicked, the kicker cannot cross the 50-yard line, and the other players on the kicking team cannot cross the 40-yard line until the ball is touched or lands in the landing zone. The receiving team’s players in the set-up zone can also not move until then.
  • If the kick sails into the end zone, the receiving team will get the ball at the 30-yard line. If the kick is touched or hits short of the landing zone, the ball is brought out to the 40-yard line.

The rules were put in place to increase kickoff returns, which most fans think are pretty exciting. Last season, around 3/4 of all kickoffs were touchbacks.

With a premium on actually covering kicks, it’s a big advantage to have eleven real NFL athletes on the field, instead of ten regular football players and a kicker. That’s where Justin Reid comes in.  Reid has served as an emergency kicker before, so he has some experience.

Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub speculated about Reid doing this back in May, and now it sounds like it will need happen. Here is Pro Football Talk with more.

Reid said on Chris Long’s Green Light Podcast that he expects to have the kicking job on kickoffs.

“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.

Reid said Butker understands that it’s better for him to keep himself healthy for field goals.

“We’re in a great place with it,” Reid said. “Although I know he 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 hopes his ability to kick off helps him stay in the NFL a little longer.

“We might have added some time to my career. You might’ve extended my show a couple years,” Reid said. “When I’m done being the starting guy on safety, I can turn into that rotational third safety and also be a kickoff specialist.”

It does make sense to use a position player, and I wonder how many teams copy Justin Reid and the Chiefs.