Here’s who Kansas City Chiefs are checking out as kick and punt return specialists

It’s the natural order of things when it comes to kickoff return duty in the NFL. The more responsibility a player gets on offense or defense, the less likely he is to play special teams.

So it is with the Chiefs. Last season, rookie Isiah Pacheco, who didn’t become the starting running back until Week 7, was the team’s top kickoff return man.

Rookie wide receiver Skyy Moore and newcomer Kadarius Toney were the team’s top punt return specialists.

Anticipated expanded roles for all means others are getting plenty of reps during OTAs, and special teams coordinator Dave Toub identified a few on Thursday.

The first name he mentioned: rookie running back Deneric Prince, the undrafted free agent from Tulsa. Toub was quick with a comparison to former Chiefs running back Knile Davis, who played four seasons with the Chiefs and returned two kicks for touchdowns in the regular season.

But Davis’ most famous play was the 106-yard kickoff return that opened the scoring in the 2015 Wild Card Game against the Houston Texans.

“He reminds me so much of Knile it’s kind of scary,” Toub said.

All the way down to the same uniform number: 34.

Prince returned only four kickoffs in a college career that included one year at Texas A&M and three at Tulsa.

Also in the mix is wide receiver Richie James, who spent his first three years with the San Francisco 49ers and last season with the New York Giants.

James returned kickoffs and punts with the Niners, and returned four kickoffs for 61 yards against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. He was primarily a punt returner with the Giants.

“He’s done it in NFL games and that’s huge,” Toub said.

Toub also mentioned wide receivers John Ross — “Great speed, one of our fastest players back there,” he said — Ihmir Smith-Marsette and even Moore.

“We have a bunch of guys that can do that for us,” Toub said.

Under Toub, set to begin his 11th season in Kansas City, the Chiefs’ special teams have often ranked among the NFL’s best. That wasn’t the case last year, but the return teams came through in the biggest moments.

In the AFC Championship Game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Moore’s 29-yard punt return with 39 seconds remaining positioned the Chiefs past midfield and set up Harrison Butker’s game-winning field goal.

It was Toney’s turn in the next game. His 65-yard punt return in the fourth quarter set a Super Bowl LVII record and led to a Patrick Mahomes touchdown pass to Moore to push the Chiefs’ lead to eight in a game they won 38-35.

“It was really sweet because of the way the year went,” Toub said. “We had a tough year. ... It was good for the whole group.”