You would miss the teammate/stamina boosts that you get when the special skill guy does his thing.
Also for things like chasedown the boosts are situational. So that a guy doesnt have boosted speed and block ratings all game only when and where its nexessary to have a higher % chance of actually seeing tha chasedown.
I know you were referring to that particilar one but it was the best example I could think of to answer your question of if this could be accomplished without abilities.