Until NFL Suspends Rice, Chiefs Have Battle at Punt Returner

It won’t make the A Block on the sports talk shows, but with a few key blocks in January and February, it could flip the outcome of postseason games. And it’s currently Dave Toub’s favorite experiment in his special-teams laboratory, the Chiefs’ returners.

That wide-open position battle gets off the ground this week in St. Joseph, Mo., where Kansas City’s assistant head coach and special teams coordinator gets his first training-camp look at what he could deploy in the season-opener. The incumbent is Nikko Remigio, a college free agent who flashed promise late last year.

“Remigio continues to get better,” Toub told reporters during June organized team activities, “and he will be a hard guy to beat out.”

Remigio showed consistent production in limited action as a first-year NFL player last season. In five games, the wide receiver averaged 9.5 yards on 11 punt returns and 26.8 on 11 kickoffs during the regular season, but especially showed his potential in the playoffs.

In three postseason games, Remigio averaged 19.0 yards on three punt returns. Late in the second half of the AFC Championship victory against Buffalo, he exploded for 41 yards to the Bills' 34-yard line and set up Patrick Mahomes’ touchdown run that gave Kansas City a 21-10 advantage.

The week before against Houston, Remigio began the Chiefs’ playoff run by taking the opening kickoff 63 yards – the longest postseason return in the NFL last year -- and setting up a Harrison Butker field goal. Remigio, who signed with the Chiefs following the 2023 draft, averaged 30.1 yards on postseason kickoff returns. He recorded three touchdowns on returns during his college career at Cal and Fresno State.

Toub said what Remigio lacks in speed against competitors Xavier Worthy and rookie Brashard Smith, he makes up for with intangibles.

“He brings so much other things to the table,” Toub explained, “as far as his ball reads, his catching on the run, his instincts of how close somebody is to him, where you can time it up and beat him with just his catching ability alone. He keeps getting better, and it will be a great battle at that punt-return spot.”

Great because Worthy rejoins the competition and Smith – a seventh-round draft pick out of SMU – is fighting for a job. Last year, the Chiefs began the season with Mecole Hardman in the primary punt-return role before Remigio took over late in the year. Worthy wasn’t available because he was too valuable on offense with Rashee Rice missing most of the year following knee surgery. Toub couldn’t contain his excitement about Worthy in that role.

“I say he’s the best punt returner nobody knows about right now in the league,” Toub said.

At least until the NFL suspends Rashee Rice under the Personal Conduct Policy, a decision with an uncertain timeline and uncertain outcome. One insider believes the suspension could be between 5-7 games, something that obviously affects not only the offense but also special teams.

At Texas, Worthy in 2023 averaged 16.9 yards per punt return, returned one punt for a touchdown, and led the conference with 371 punt-return yards.

Smith also led his conference – in kickoff returns as a junior in 2023 at Miami (Fla.). He paced the ACC in both kickoff-return yards (579) and average per return (29.0). After transferring to SMU for his final college season, his primary role became a dangerous running back.

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