Three KC Chiefs players who benefit from a COVID-affected season

Tommy Townsend

According to special teams coordinator Dave Toub, the spot opened up by the release of veteran Dustin Colquitt was supposed to be a “true competition.” Instead, the opportunity to be the Chiefs next punter has been gifted to Tommy Townsend.

Perhaps the biggest loss of the Chiefs this offseason is the decision to cut Colquitt, a reliable vet who was the team’s longest-tenured player. He’s likely a future member of the team’s Hall of Fame as a two-time All-Pro who held down the punting role for an incredible 238 regular season games over 15 seasons.

Toub has referred to Townsend as the best punter in this draft class, but the Chiefs signed the Florida Gators star only after they’d also brought in former Notre Dame punter Tyler Newsome. Together, they would battle it out, within a typical preseason scenario, for the chance to step into the shoes of such a proven veteran.

Unfortunately for both Newsome and the Chiefs, the lack of any preseason games means that the notion of a straightforward competition was nullified by the COVID-19 pandemic. With a need to lessen the number of bodies in camp, the Chiefs instead decided to go with their gut instinct—or at least that of Toub—and give Townsend the job outright.