Kansas City Chiefs rookie running back Brashard Smith is earning praise for a play in Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars that ultimately didn’t count.
Smith had a 63-yard kick return that was called back on a holding penalty, one that was questionable and had no impact on the play, in the third quarter of the Week 5 road loss. Leading up to this point, Smith had shown flashes as a kick returner, but he was still very much a work in progress. Now, Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub has something tangible to further build upon with Smith.
“Yeah, I mean, I think Brashard Smith keeps getting better and better each week, and it was really good to see,” Toub said. “He hit that return and he was north and south in a hurry. I’m not sure if I’m glad if he didn’t score because it would’ve been even worse. It was a great return nonetheless, and we’re going to build on that and look at the positives.”
Smith had one of his best games yet against the Jaguars, catching 100% percent of his passes on three targets for 30 yards. However excited fans may be for his contributions on offense, it’s the kick return role that should really be turning heads at the moment.
Chiefs RB Brashard Smith has quietly become one of the NFL’s best kick return specialists
Just as the running back position is still new to Brashard Smith after only playing the position for a year at SMU, so is the kick return position. Smith did play kickoff return in college when he played wide receiver at Miami, but the NCAA doesn’t have the same dynamic kickoff return rules that the NFL currently has. Despite this position being somewhat new to Smith, he’s managed to elevate his game and ranks in the top half of the league in most categories among NFL kick returners.
Chiefs RB Brashard Smith 2025 Kickoff Return Stats
- Returns: 12 (t-5th)
- Yardage: 322 (11th)
- Long: 37 (t-17th)
- Yards per return: 26.8 (10th)
If Smith’s 63-yard return, which was called back on a penalty from Jack Cochrane, had counted, he would’ve had the fourth-longest kick return in the NFL this season. He also would’ve ranked third in the league in kick return yardage through the first five weeks of the 2025 NFL season. It would have brought his yards per return averaged up from 10th to 3rd place.
