One of the underrated issues the Kansas City Chiefs had during the 2025 season was special teams.
Punter Matt Ariaza showed improvement from his first year with the Chiefs in 2024, but that is where the positives stopped.
Special teams coordinator Dave Toub will look to improve his unit in 2026 with a blend of new and familiar faces.
Kansas City Chiefs K Harrison Butker Focusing Less on Leg Power
Chiefs K Harrison Butker
The Chiefs held Day 1 of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. Butker spoke to the media afterward, and revealed that he is focusing less on power and more on smooth contact when kicking the ball.
“Starting the season last year with the misses, and they were longer misses, I feel like I was just so focused on hitting the big ball,” Butker said. “Especially when it’s like a 56-yarder, I’m trying to crush it when there’s no need to. If you just hit it smooth, it will still go over the crossbar. For the rest of that season (2025), I just didn’t really care about hitting a big ball, and I really haven’t focused on that during OTAs. It just tells you when you’re smooth, and you have good foot-to-ball contact, and you’re feeling strong, the ball’s going to go. You don’t need to overpower it. Kicking is such a mental skill. If you’re going out there and you don’t have the right mindset, it can really affect you a ton.”
Butker went 5-8 on field goal attempts from 50 or more yards in 2025, and 9-11 on attempts between 40-49 yards. His longest of the season was 59 yards, three yards shy of his career high of 62 yards that he set back in 2022.
Harrison Butker Looking to Get off to Better Start in 2026 Than 2026
Butker missed at least one field goal or extra point attempt in five of his first six games last season. He missed a field goal attempt in three consecutive games from Weeks 2-4. Butker said he is focusing on getting off to a better start in 2026 to set the tone for a smooth season.
“I think when you start the season off with misses, your back is kind of against the wall,” Butker said. “Mentally it kind of takes a toll on you. I climbed out of it, I finished the season above the middle of the pack. Obviously, you don’t even want to be there. You don’t want to start out the season missing as much. I think the focus is just to have a great training camp and be very competitive with myself. Preseason, sometimes you don’t get a lot of reps. I don’t think last preseason we got too many field goals, or they were shorter field goals. I’m hoping I can have a good training camp and start out strong for the season.”
As Butker alluded to, he quietly finished 2025 strong, missing just two field goals in his last 13 games. His final stat line was solid, going 33-38 with an 86.8 conversion percentage. He went 31-35 on extra point attempts, which you’d like so see be a bit better. If Butker can avoid a rut, regardless of when during the season it occurs, he will remain one of the elite kickers in the NFL.
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