Dave Toub says ‘competition is real’ to be the Chiefs’ return man

Less than a week remains before the Kansas City Chiefs must cut their offseason roster to 53 players ahead of the 2026 regular season. The fringes of the roster will always be impacted by the special teams, especially in Kansas City with coordinator Dave Toub.

On Tuesday, he stepped up to the podium and spoke to local media before practice ahead of Friday’s preseason finale against the Seattle Seahawks. He was asked about the battle at the return positions, acknowledging that the current starter, wide receiver Nikko Remigio, is staving off pressure from teammates for that role.

“The competition is real. There’s nothing given,” Toub said.

Running back Brashard Smith is the immediate backup to Remigio in the return game and is, seemingly, the closest to Remigio in the battle for a starting role.

“Brashard continues to get better,” Toub pointed out. “He had an opportunity in the game… he probably could’ve just went and hit it and got to the wall; we’re not getting to the wall. The wall is there, and we’re not getting there. We have to be more aggressive to get to that point; we have to trust our speed back there instead of always looking for that up-the-field play.”

“Nikko had no choice, he had the wall there but there was a guy,” Toub continued. “He had it wide open up the middle and he hit it up in there, it’s where we had the penalty. He had a 15-yard return, which was nice.”

Toub went on to mention that wide receivers Tyquan Thornton and Xavier Worthy can do it, too, but if it sounds like Toub feels more comfortable relying on Remigio to do the job right, he spelled it out for local media.

“Nikko, right now, he’s the most solid guy,” Toub declared. “[The most] dependable that we’re working right now at the fifth or sixth receiver spot.”

However, Toub ended his points on the return job by pointing out the one negative trait he sees with Remigio, one that others in this competition — like Brashard Smith — may have as an advantage.

“The one thing we can’t change is his top-end speed,” Toub admitted. “I wish he had Worthy’s speed on the top end, but he does so many other things; his intangibles are just different from other guys.”