The Kansas City Chiefs are now using two kickers after signing Justin Tucker to the practice squad on Wednesday. Harrison Butker, the Chiefs’ placekicker since 2017, has struggled in recent games, but signing Tucker isn’t a move to replace the three-time Super Bowl champion specialist.
At the podium Thursday, special teams coordinator Dave Toub made it clear that hiring Tucker was part of a plan to get the best out of Butker in the future.
“We don’t have to do this, but we are now at a point where every position has competition, everyone has someone behind them who is ready to step up,” Toub told local media. “We went out and brought in three kickers and made them get someone on the practice squad to be ready.”
Later in the press conference, Toub emphasized the Chiefs’ commitment to the kicking position.
“Butker is our kicker. We’re trying to get Butker right,” Toub said. “That’s what this whole thing is about.”
To find the right player to be Butker’s understudy, Toub talked to special-teams coaches around the league and assembled a trio of kickers the team thought were “the best guys out there,” according to Toub. He’s heard positive things about Tucker’s previous attempts at an NFL comeback.
“He had four workouts before; we were his fifth tryout,” Toub reminded. “The word was he hit the ball well, and I wanted to see it. I always thought he was a good kicker, and those two guys, him and Harrison, idealized each other when they kicked.”
The next step is to put the tryout players through a rigorous placekicking circuit. Tucker is very good.
“I did a grueling workout for these guys; I had 30 kicks: 10 extra points, seven kicks out of 50, one was a 60-yarder,” Toub recalled. “He made every kick. Not only did he make them, he was accurate: 60% of his kicks were inside a six-foot cylinder between the uprights.”
“Someone who struggles as a kicker can’t put the ball with that kind of accuracy in 30 kicks, so he’s off the charts pretty well,” Toub said. “That’s why we signed him to the practice squad.”
As Toub noted, Butker and Tucker have been two of the league’s top kickers for a long time. That experience was a major reason for the move, and something Toub seems to believe could sharpen Butker’s current shortcomings.
“Those two guys are working together now,” shares Toub. “Talking, ‘What have you been through?’”
“I’m a coach, I’m not a kicking guy, I don’t speak that language like those guys do,” Toub continued. “Yesterday was incredible, those two guys. They were talking about the issues, talking about, ‘How did you handle it,’ and it was great. They were professionals… that part was great.”
With Tucker now on the practice field in Kansas City, Toub has seen Butker in lockstep and had an impressive showing with the backup on his shoulder.
“He went 10 for 10 yesterday with Tucker standing there,” Toub said. “On a windy day, it was a 28-mile-per-hour gust yesterday and he went 10 for 10… that’s good stuff. We’ll keep it going.”