Last season, the NFL piloted a major change to kickoffs, hoping to re-establish one of the game’s most exciting plays. But the new “dynamic kickoff” didn’t reduce touchbacks enough.

So for 2025, the rule has been tweaked. Starting this season, an unreturned ball will be placed at the 35-yard line — just like the original draft of the proposed rule change was written.

“It’s going to change [things],” Kansas City Chiefs assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Dave Toub predicted after Wednesday’s OTA practice. “It’s not going to change the style of the [returner], but it’s going to change how many reps we get — because everybody’s going to kick it into the target zone now. You can’t afford to kick a touchback [and] give up the ball to the 35 automatically.”

Toub noted that when touchbacks only came out to the 30-yard line, it wasn’t a sufficient deterrent for kicking the ball into the end zone to avoid a return.

“If you average last year throughout the whole season,” he recalled, “I think it was 29.5 yards getting the ball out to that far, so it was kind of a wash to kick a touchback; you weren’t giving up anything. But now, that extra five yards? That’s going to make all the difference in the world. It’s good for special teams.

“[For a] kickoff team, you’ve got to kick it in there every time. [On a] kick return, you’re going to get returns every time. So I think it’s going to be probably at least 85% returns — [maybe] to 90%. So it’s going to be a lot funner for the fans [and] better for special teams coaches and players — and jobs. So it’s all good.”

Three of the Chiefs’ recent draft selections — cornerback Nohl Williams, wide receiver Jalen Royals and running back Brashard Smith — bring kick return experience from college. Unsurprisingly, Toub is happy to add them to the mix.

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“You’ve got to make sure you have guys that are that are good at it,” he explained. “The speed is always something that you’re looking for. That dynamic guy that can feel it with speed. Brashard brings that to the table. I like him back there. Royals? He’s got talent. Then Nohl? He’s done it, too, in college. So we’ve got a lot of young guys to work with.”

Toub also explained his philosophy on kickoff returns. Last season, he frequently had a running back — either Samaje Perine or Carson Steele — line up as a second return man opposite speedier wide receivers like Mecole Hardman and Nikko Remigio.

“You can have one guy that could be a blocker,” said Toub, “but the other guy’s got to be more of a speed guy. The other guy that doesn’t field the ball, he’s got to be a real good in-space blocker, because he’s got to go one-on-one. He’s not allowed to go double-team with anybody, so he’s got to be able to block a guy by himself. So [it’s] going to be really important that they’re really good blockers. Those guys are important.”

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Toub also thinks Remigio is now the favorite to become the main punt returner — but will still have some competition for the job.

“He just continues to get better,” the coach observed. “He’s going to be a hard guy to beat out. He doesn’t have that dynamic Brashard Smith top-end speed, but he brings so [many] other things to the table as far as his ball reads, his catching on the run, his instincts [about] how close somebody is to him — where you can time it up and beat him with just his catching ability alone. So he just keeps getting better.

“It’s going to be a great battle at that punt return spot. [But] Brashard is a guy that’s going to be in the mix. [Xavier] Worthy will [also] be in the mix.”

Chiefs fans may wince upon hearing that Worthy — who had amazing offensive performances in the second half of his rookie season — might be exposed to injury on punt returns. Toub reminded his listeners that this duty was part of the plan for Worthy’s 2024 season.

“He planned on being our guy until Rashee Rice got hurt,” said Toub, “and that changed everything for that dynamic. He ended up being the No. 1 [wide receiver] for us last year, so we couldn’t afford to have him back there.

“[But] now I say he’s the [league’s] best punt returner nobody knows about. That’s Worthy. So hopefully we get him back there, too, a little bit.”