These 15 players earned the most kickoff coverage snaps for the Chiefs last year (including the postseason):
FB Michael Burton
S Deon Bush
K Harrison Butker
LB Leo Chenal
LB Jack Cochrane
S Bryan Cook
TE Jody Fortson
LB Darius Harris
DB Nazeeh Johnson
WR Marcus Kemp
CB Chris Lammons
LB Elijah Lee
RB Isiah Pacheco
CB Jaylen Watson
CB Joshua Williams
Here’s the Chiefs’ 2022 kickoff coverage lineup and snap counts. Find more here.
Eight of those 15 players are not on the Chiefs’ 53-man roster to start the 2023 season: Burton, Bush, Fortson, Harris, Johnson, Kemp, Lammons and Lee.
Burton, Harris, Kemp, Lammons, and Lee moved on in free agency. Bush is currently on the Chiefs’ practice squad. Fortson and Johnson would have likely made the Chiefs 53-man roster but are both out for the season due to injuries – Fortson a shoulder injury and Johnson an ACL tear.
That’s a lot of production to replace on this crew. It’ll mainly be tough to replace the production of Burton and Bush. Those two led the team in tackles on kickoffs in 2022 – Burton finished with six while Bush had eight. It’s also worth noting that players like Chenal, Cook, Pacheco, and Watson will see increased roles on offense/defense, which means their special teams duties could be cut down.
