KC Chiefs are fortunate to have returning specialists

Dave Toub is well aware of the Kansas City Chiefs position when it comes to their specialists. There’s a reason he says he’s “fortunate” when it comes to the trio of performers who will line up as kicker, punter, and long snapper for yet another season.

“I don’t have to really worry about those guys,” said Toub from training camp earlier this week.

Not every team is so lucky to return good-to-great players at those specialist positions year after year without much to worry about. Age, competition, injury take their toll on every player, and it makes sense that at least one of those roles might come into question in any given year for a team. Well, that’s just not true for the Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs are fortunate to have their specialists returning for yet another year in 2022.

In years past, the Chiefs have dealt with varying levels of uncertainty with these roles.

It was only a couple of years ago that the Chiefs had to carry two punters on the offseason roster to figure out competition for a declining Dustin Colquitt, an appreciated player who was the team’s longest-tenured veteran. Names like Jack Fox and Tyler Newsome were introduced to Chiefs Kingdom as potential heirs to Colquitt’s role before the Chiefs landed Townsend as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

At kicker, the carousel has turned fairly slowly yet consistently every few years. Ryan Succop was fine for a few and then Cairo Santos was the same. But a groin injury created some real headaches for the Chiefs heading into the season back in 2017 before the Chiefs submitted a smart claim of Harrison Butker from the Carolina Panthers practice squad.

Sometimes a team will really move through rather turbulent times trying to land a dependable performer at one or more of the specialist positions. Remember that it wasn’t so long ago that the Chiefs were moving through kickers every few games—from Justin Medlock and John Carney to Nick Novak and Connor Barth—before finally finding an answer for a half-decade in Succop back in Scott Pioli’s tenure.

At this point, Winchester has been a fixture since 2015. Townsend is an exciting young punter who could be around for a decade more. As for Butker, he’s working on a potential legacy of greatness that could leave him in the Chiefs’ record books one day. As a trio, it’s safe to say that the Chiefs are not only “fortunate” in the present year but they might not have to worry about these roles for years to come.