Chiefs Roster Breakdown - Special Teams
For the first time in several seasons the Chiefs will have a special teams opening
Over the next couple of months, the team will focus on OTAs and a mandatory minicamp. Currently, the Chiefs' roster is mainly set for training camp. Today, we will examine special teams; we examined the offense and defense earlier this week.
Punter - 1
Competition on special teams has not been in Kansas City for the last couple of seasons. Other than the slight change to the holder from the previous year, things have been very stable. With Tommy Townsend moving on, that has changed this year, and for the first time since Townsend joined the Chiefs, it looks like they will have competition in training camp for the punting job.
Matt Araiza was drafted by the Buffalo Bills but was cut after a lawsuit was filed against him. Now that he has been cleared of wrong doing, he is likely the punter for the Chiefs this season. Ryan Rehkow was brought in as a UDFA after the draft and is still on the roster so it looks like the Chiefs will take them both to camp.
Kicker - 1
Harrison Butker isn’t going anywhere, and there is an argument to be made he is the best kicker in the NFL.
Long Snapper - 1
James Winchester hasn’t had competition for years and doesn’t this year. He will continue to hold down the position in Kansas City.
Holder
This is one of the biggest questions that won’t be talked about. The assumption is that the holder will end up being the punter, but with two new punters on the roster, that’s a very small part of the competition now.
Returner
Another question for the roster that won’t take up their own spot. It will be interesting to see who shakes out as the Chiefs' returner this season. They’ve already had Worthy and Rees-Zammit working on returns in rookie minicamp. Nikko Remigio was making waves for the position in 2023.
Who do you think will take the punter role in 2024?
As a former elite college rugger, let me explain the kicking rules requirements that Rees-Zamett is used to utilizing. First, each rugby kickoff starts w/ a drop kick. The object of the kick is height & depth, like hitting a volleyball serve to a blank spot w/ enough loft to run down on it. So, he’s used to kicking to a landing zone.
Next, strategy requires a rugby “back” to kick the ball “into touch/out of bounds”. If the kicker is beyond his 22 meter line, the resulting field position from a kick in the air into touch is the ball comes back to the spot from which it is kicked. However, if the kicker can make the kick bounce in-bounds & then go into touch, the field position moves to where the kick crosses the sideline. Thus, he’s practiced the art of kicking the ball to bounce out of bounds.
Next, he is an experienced tackler. Rugby strategy is based on creating missed tackles, resulting in an “overlap/1 offensive player more than defensive players on the play side of the field”. Louis knows how to tackle between the ankles & shoulder high.
The biggest difference in the 2 sports physically is that pads protect you from impact with the ground. In rugby, the ground hurts you. He’s gonna be a willing tackler with a lot of one on one open field experience. He will have to adjust to tackling a padded runner, but he’s used to taking out his opponent’s legs.
He’s gonna have great fitness, but will add strength & perhaps get even more explosive from an NFL weight room. Rugby requires endurance, so the weight program is more 3x25, than football’s 5x5. Now, he’s not used to blocking, which is illegal in rugby.
I played HS football & wasn’t big enough to stick as an SEC OL, so I switched to rugby. My rugby team finished 5th in the nation in 1984. We lost the East Regional finals to the eventual national runner-up by 2 points on the road in the last 30 seconds.
Louis’ is gonna be a lot tougher than many might think. He’s used to running through contact, which is what RBs do. He’s used to starting rugby practice with 3-5 miles of interval running.
Matt Araiza has never been a holder and I'm not sure about Rehkow. Do you know if
Carson Wentz has ever held for field goals?