Examining Chiefs’ Options at Kicker Without Matt Ammendola
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Following an embarrassing Sunday Week 3 loss to the Indianapolis Colts that saw an unreasonable amount of special teams mistakes be made, the Kansas City Chiefs wasted little time moving forward. On Monday, the club released kicker Matt Ammendola from the practice squad following a performance in which he missed an extra point and a field goal.
In the aftermath of the brief Ammendola era in Kansas City, the team now has some decisions to make at the kicker position. With a Sunday Night Football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looming, the Chiefs desperately need to be as close to full strength as possible in an effort to steal a win against a very formidable opponent. Rising to 3-1 on the year looks a lot better than dropping to 2-2, and special teams coordinator Dave Toub will be working hard throughout the week to ensure that his unit doesn't repeat last week's performance.
With that in mind, the kicker position remains a question mark and a critical position of focus for Kansas City this week. Let's take a look at three potential avenues the team can take to fix its lack of a healthy full-time kicker for the time being.
Hope that Harrison Butker is healthy for Week 4
This option is clearly Plan A for the Chiefs, as Harrison Butker is one of the very best in the NFL at his craft and would be a massive boost for the club's special teams abilities this week and beyond. With that said, Butker has missed plenty of practice over the last couple of weeks and didn't seem remotely close to playing in last Sunday's game before ultimately being ruled out. As of the publishing of this article, it remains to be seen exactly where Butker is in his rehab from a Week 1 ankle sprain. That leaves plenty of uncertainty still up in the air.
On the other hand, Butker did re-enter that Week 1 game and kick. With a few weeks that have passed for his swelling to decrease and his pain to subside a bit, could the Chiefs trot out a less-than-100% Butker against Tampa Bay for field goal and extra point duties? Toub mentioned as recently as last week that even a hobbled Butker is better than plenty of kickers, and safety Justin Reid appears to have a strong grasp on booting kickoffs through the back of the end zone. The ideal scenario for the Chiefs is that Butker progresses enough to be back in full capacity this week, but there's also a bit of wiggle room there if the team doesn't want to go with option two, which is...
Revisit the kicking derby market for a new face
This may be Plan B to the Plan A of Butker being healthy. When it was reported that the Chiefs would be signing Ammendola to their practice squad on Sept. 12, it was the result of a six-man kicker derby that the team hosted to determine who would be filling in for Butker. Ammendola won the derby by a pretty significant margin, prompting him to be the man for the job. While that option didn't end up working out, could Kansas City simply go back to the list of players who participated in the derby and sign one of them for a week or two?
Multiple derby members are still on the open market, including Cameron Dicker and Cody Parkey. Elliott Fry, who played for the Chiefs in a pinch last season and has some familiarity with how Toub runs things in Kansas City, is the third name of that group to be available. Many speculated when Butker initially got hurt that Fry could perhaps be the club's player of choice — could that come to fruition now? The logic is certainly there for one of them, or even someone else.
Rely on Justin Reid to fill in
The fun option comes last and while it's the one that would be easily the most exciting for the Chiefs, their fans and everyone else to watch, it also seems to be a pipe dream. Reid is an integral part of Steve Spagnuolo's defense and while he's capable of making a field goal or extra point every once in a while, neither remains a particular specialty of his. When combining that with the added injury risk of playing special teams snaps, it's unlikely that the Chiefs would rely on Reid heading into a game if they didn't absolutely have to.
Kickoff duty is one thing, and it's something Reid seemed to legitimately thrive at in Week 1, but the idea of him doubling as the club's leading safety and placekicker as this Week 4 outing arrives isn't greatly feasible. The remote possibility is always there, though, even if it isn't realistic. Reid can get the job done when his name is called, so he deserves to at least be mentioned here.
