[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbwa53mtds520q2 player_id=none image=https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
It seems that every year special teams coach Dave Toub has a new surprise for fans after a summer off to improve the punting and kicking games for the Kansas City Chiefs. From the emergence of D.J. Alexander in 2016 as a Pro Bowl gunner to the kick return prowess of Byron Pringle being unleashed in 2020. The new season is sure to hold something special for the special teams unit in pursuit of another Super Bowl.
Andy Reid has always placed a huge emphasis on winning on special teams. Rarely in the modern pass-happy NFL does a game come down to a punt inside the 20 or field position on a kickoff, but with expectations at an all-time high, Kansas City will seek any edge it can find.
After Chiefs practice on Tuesday, Toub spoke to the media about his unit of specialists and provided key insights into his perspective on the roster ahead of the team’s final cutdowns. Toub has had tremendous influence over tough decisions in assembling the best 53 players in the past, with this year likely headed in the same direction. Speaking about players that might need a big performance to make the cut on special teams, Toub told the media that nobody’s job is safe.
“I think everybody needs to have a good showing,” Toub said, “There are guys that you might think are easy ins right now and they’re still fighting. It’s not over. That’s the thing that I tell them. I say, ‘the decision is not made until this last game is done and we get down to 53.’ They got to keep fighting, everybody. There are lots of positions that are still open right now. Special teams will have something to do with it, but offense and defense mostly.”
The versatility to play capably on either side of the ball but also on special teams can put younger players over the top for the coaching staff, making them very difficult to cut given their use in multiple phases. Players like receiver Marcus Kemp and defensive back Dicaprio Bootle could find their way onto the final roster with solid performances at their primary positions, potentially doubling as gunners on Toub’s crew.
One surprise of the preseason has been the utilization of new cornerback Mike Hughes as a punt and kick returner, a secondary role Toub sees huge upside for him in.
“Mike is a very, very good catcher,” Toub told reporters of the former first-round pick. “He’s a talented returner. He gets up the field north and south, he looks for that north and south right away whereas he could probably press the edges a little bit more. He’s talented and we like what we see in him going forward.”
His quote on Hughes was particularly interesting given comments made about Demarcus Robinson later in the press conference. Robinson, a mainstay of the Chiefs’ special teams since being drafted by Kansas City in 2016, has found his role change from gunner to returner. Hughes appears to have usurped his role as a returner in this preseason. Upstart second-year tight end Jody Fortson, a converted receiver, is competing alongside the aforementioned Kemp to displace him elsewhere on the roster.
Toub was complimentary of Fortson too and seemed to think he was on his way to securing a roster spot.
“Jody (Fortson) is setting himself up well,” Toub told reporters. “No surprises, but I was just happy to see Jody with as hard as he worked in the offseason to be able to show it on the field as a hold-up guy, blocker and cover guy, physical. It’s good to see.”
For Toub, Kansas City’s overall roster depth presents him with a complex puzzle to solve before September in finding the absolute best players under contract to help win the Chiefs games this season. His last chance to evaluate the talent before decisions have to be made will be on Friday against the Vikings, and if history is any indication, his perspective on this game could have huge implications for the team’s roster moving forward.
[listicle id=97134]