Not sure you can keep 2 Kickers unless one of them can also punt. Maybe whoever wins the Punter job can handle kickoffs if Grupe beats out Smyth so we can get a bigger guy on the field to tackle on kickoffs?
Barring injury the kicker and punter positions are set without having position battles ahead. Grupe will be the kicker and Hedley will be the punter.
The Saints will benefit from the (IPPP) International Player Pathway Program as they will have a roster exemption for Smyth. They have options with him.
Coach Rizzi explained the importance of the kicker being able to place the ball into the Landing Zone in different areas that they may call upon him to do. With the noise about KC using a safety who has kicking experience instead of Butler, Rizzi debunked that idea for the Saints in his interview yesterday stating that the risk was not worth the reward. Kicking the ball out of bounds or short of the 20-yard line will result in the ball being placed at the 40-yard line. That would be a big time fail.
Keep in mind that the kickoff must travel a minimum distance of 45 yards (from the 35 to the 20) and the ideal distance would be 60 yards (to the 5-yard line) but no further. Also, the kicker is not allowed to cross midfield (the 50-yard line) on kickoff in coverage.
Rizzi said that the Saints coaching staff has watched every XFL kickoff on film available to them and have spoken to several coaches that have experience with it. They intend to use several different matchups and will use preseason to hone down on what works best and will also study what the other 31 teams do in preseason. He also said that a number of core offensive and defensive players that have not played on special teams in the past would now be involved in the kickoff coverage and kickoff return game, citing AK41 as an example as one of the returners in certain situations.