Earlier this week, it was announced that the Kansas City Chiefs are cutting ties with long-standing return man Nikko Remigio. Dave Toub's special teams unit has faced fan slander for years now, partly due to the constant flag issues that happen seemingly every game. But also part and parcel of the lack of explosive plays created in the return game.
At the center of that has been Remigio. He's been Toub's main man over the past two seasons in both the kickoff and punt return duties, before and after the league's wide-sweeping changes to how kickoffs are enforced.
This year alone, Remigio has mustered just 78 yards on 14 punt returns for an average of a putrid 5.6 yards per try. It's been mildly better on kickoffs, but those are meant to gain at least 20-25 yards, just due to the increased space and range to maneuver. Remigio is just above that with an average of 26.5 on 12 attempts.
Perhaps a large reason why Remigio was kept in the role for so long was that he rarely put the ball in harm's way. He had sure hands and tracking ability, but just could never make much out of it. Without him, the Chiefs have some experimenting to do to find his replacement.
With valuable snaps up for grabs in the return game following Remigio's release, the Chiefs have multiple guys in line for the job
Much of the immediate reaction to Remigio's release is that it came very soon after KC made the trade to acquire receiver Josh Downs. During his four-year tenure, Downs does have relative punt return experience, but as he's improved as a WR and has become a full-time offensive player, his snaps in the role decreased significantly.
For his career, Downs has averaged 9.8 yards per punt return on a total of 32 attempts. An over four yards better than Remigio's clip this season. But if your Kansas City, the main reason you traded for Downs was to utilize him on offense, where is sorely needed as the only man-coverage beating receiver in the room.
Other options the Chiefs have at least given a try include rookie Cyrus Allen, who fumbled his lone attempt a couple of weeks ago. And while fellow rookie back Emmett Johnson has seen his opportunities in the kick return game skyrocket recently, with him as virtually the only healthy back for the Chiefs today versus Atlanta, I doubt we'll see him take the field in that role.
Someone sneaky I think the Chiefs might use is veteran receiver Justin Watson, who rejoined the team following the injury to Tyquan Thornton as a downfield speedster, but has been relegated to the practice squad for much of his time back in KC. In 2022, Watson accumulated 39 yards on five punt returns. Nothing special, but he has experience.
It will be interesting to see who the Chiefs put back there, and how convinced they are in their belief that whoever is given the job can do better than Remigio was doing. And that does not mean just having more pop in the return game, but also not making the big mistake, which was truthfully Remigio's strong suit.
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