The Kansas City Chiefs are on the hunt for a new return specialist for the 2020 NFL season. The solution for the team could be a holdover from the 2019 Super Bowl-winning roster.
It’s not necessarily that the Chiefs are lacking for talent at either the punt or kick return positions. Tyreek Hill remains among one of the most explosive return specialists in the game. However, during the 2019 season, Hill was only utilized on a single kick return. The team wants to use him primarily on offense, but keep the threat of putting him back there for a punt or kick return in their back pocket.
Mecole Hardman returned 18 punts and 27 kicks in 2019. He’s expected to take up a larger role on the offensive side of the ball in 2020. The team expressed to undrafted free agents when they signed them that they are looking for someone in the return game who can also do what Hardman does. All signs point to Hardman being phased out of special teams in the same way Hill was.
Enter Chiefs’ third-year receiver Byron Pringle. He joined the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Kansas State in 2018 but injured himself in the preseason and spent the entire year on injured reserve. After an impressive training camp and preseason in 2019, Pringle made the Chiefs’ 53-man roster. In Week 5, Pringle caught six passes for over 100 yards and a touchdown. He was also a standout as a cover man on special teams kick and punt units.
Could Pringle be the answer to the Chiefs’ kick and punt return conundrum in 2020? He played kick returner in college for the Wildcats, averaging 27.6 yards a kick return with two touchdowns during his career. While he didn’t play much punt returner in college, Chiefs ST coordinator Dave Toub started training him there ahead of the 2019 season alongside Hardman. He even had two kick returns last year, returned for a total of 41 yards.
Many are looking to the undrafted free agent group, thinking a return specialist will emerge and make the team. Pringle stepping up and taking on a larger role in the return game seems to be the likelier story, especially with the lack of preseason games to see new players work against opponents.
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