The Kansas City Chiefs are announcing an interesting change. Due to the new rules, kicker Harrison Butker will no longer handle all kickoffs. Instead, Justin Reid will be used

Kicker Harrison Butker will probably no longer take all kickoffs for the Kansas City Chiefs in the future. This was announced by Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub.

The reason for this is the serious rule change regarding kickoffs adopted by the NFL a few weeks ago. This is intended to make it easier for the opposing returner to carry the ball back.

With the new division of the teams on the field, Toub expects a significant increase in situations in which the kicker himself has to make a tackle against the opposing returner. And Butker is not supposed to make all of them himself.

“Butker can make tackles, but I don’t want him to have to do it all year,” Toub said at a presser. He expects kickers to be involved in tackles on kickoffs 25 to 40 percent of the time.

The Chiefs have already selected safety Justin Reid as an alternative to Butker. “Justin can kick, but then he can also go to the ground and make tackles,” explained Toub.

The new rule stipulates, among other things, that the ten players per team (excluding kicker and returner) face each other five yards apart and are only allowed to move when the returner touches the ball.

The shorter distance is intended to reduce speeds and therefore also the risk of injury. In the previous year, there was a negative record of attempted kickoff returns