onejayhawk Posted May 14, 2023 Share Posted May 14, 2023 The Chiefs have a tradition of Special Teams excellence that took a hit last season. We dropped punts, gave up long returns, and missed kicks. The only consistently good thing was Tommy Townsend's punting. Still, by the time the playoffs rolled around, things were looking up. Both the AFC Championship game and the Super Bowl involved long punt returns with the game on the line. After being mired deep in the bottom half of the league for most of the season, the Chiefs finished #19 in FBO's rankings. This season, things look better. We are not losing any major players while a lot of rookies will be tested players for the new season. In addition, the draft brings Chamarri Conner and BJ Thompson who were ST aces in college. Thompson in particular is interesting. He blocked four kicks in Big XII play. Nic Jones also has promise in this area. In 2022 the STs were a work in progress. While the rebuild may not be complete, this season is looking a lot more like the level we had come to expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted June 2, 2023 Author Share Posted June 2, 2023 Toub was interviewed and had some comments about his teams and specifically kickoff and punt returns. The interesting one is that he compared UDFA Deneric Prince to former Chief Knile Davis. Davis could play and he was a good KO man so that is fairly high praise. For punt return there is a long list, meaning there is no real front-runner. IMO this will be Skyy Moore's job to lose. The problem is that he lost it last season. https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2023/6/1/23745905/chiefs-roster-2023-coordinator-dave-toub-reveals-players-competing-for-kick-return-roles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 More from Toub on how far we have come since this time last year. You can put Nazeeh Johnson on the 53-man roster. https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2023/06/08/kansas-city-chiefs-dave-toub-excited-nic-jones-chamarri-conner-nazeeh-johnson/ Rookies I’m excited about the young linebackers, (Isaiah) Moore and (Cam) Jones, the two (undrafted) free agent kids that we have. I like the kids that we drafted, (Chamarri) Conner and (Nic) Jones. Both of those guys are going to help us right off the bat. The d-lineman (Keondre Coburn), the defensive end (BJ Thompson), possibly some role players but not so much as a four-phase guy, but I’m excited about the young players. 2nd-year players Really it’s those last year’s young players that are getting better that are going to – guys like (Jack) Cochrane and Nazeeh (Johnson). You know towards the end of the year Nazeeh Johnson, as a gunner, he was playing better than anybody in the league. So, I’m excited about him. He’ll probably be our number one gunner coming into next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 30, 2023 Author Share Posted July 30, 2023 (edited) Nazeeh Johnson tears his ACL, likely ending his season. This is a big blow to special teams where NJ is considered an elite gunner. This likely opens a roster spot to a DB or LB.https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/andy_reid_provides_major_injury_update_on_nazeeh_johnson/s1_16631_39074759 Update: With NJ out, the top gunner slots seem to go to WR Justin Watson and DB Joshua Willams. Look of DB Ekow Boye-Doe to make a run at the practise squad.https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2023/8/5/23821265/chiefs-training-camp-justin-watson-joshua-williams-gunners Edited August 5, 2023 by onejayhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted September 22, 2023 Author Share Posted September 22, 2023 (edited) Richie James started the season as both KR and PR. Now he's hurt for a few weeks. Toub has some options but my guess is Watson. He's the one who took over for Skyy last season. That said, I would be comfortable with Skyy doing it. https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2023/9/21/23884379/chiefs-bears-players-return-bears-sunday More on what goes into punt returns. https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2023/09/22/kansas-city-chiefs-dave-toub-reveals-the-complexity-of-returning-punts/ Edited September 22, 2023 by onejayhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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