It wasn’t long ago that new Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney was a prospect in the 2021 NFL draft coming out of the University of Florida.
Toney was one of the players we covered during the season in our annual draft prospect series. Many thought that he might be an option for the Chiefs in the first round well before they made their trade to acquire Orlando Brown Jr. from the Ravens. Alas, with the Giants selecting him at No. 20 overall, he never would have made it to Kansas City’s first-round pick.
Here is a look at what we said about Toney when he was still juking defenders with the Gators:
“Toney is a former high school quarterback who converted to the receiver position with the Florida Gators. He’s more than simply a receiver, though. Toney has become the ultimate utility player for the Gators, playing everything from Wildcat QB to running back to special teams. In all, he has appeared in 32 games since 2017 with his senior season shaping up to be his most productive yet.
Weighing in at 5-11 and 195 pounds, Toney is a tackle-breaking machine with the ball in his hands. Dating back to Week 1 of the 2019 college football season, Toney has forced 31 missed tackles on 62 total touches according to PFF. This year, Toney is averaging 10.5 yards from scrimmage and 10 points scored per game.
When I look at the Chiefs’ receiver needs I think of all the different roles that Toney could fill in this offense. I also think about all the creative plays that Reid could draw up with his skill set in mind. He’s really the perfect fit for this type of scheme.”
We spent a lot of time daydreaming about the type of fun plays that Chiefs HC Andy Reid could cook up for a player like Toney. After the team’s trade to acquire him, all of that is on the horizon. He’s going to be taking snaps all over the field and used in a variety of ways this season.
We also made mention of Toney as an honorable mention in our Senior Bowl players to watch article, noting that he, “destroyed people with his speed and route-running all week in practice. Had some issues with focus drops, which can probably be coached up. Definitely looked like a top-40 draft pick at times during practice.”
Toney had the lowest career dropped pass percen tage of the entire 2021 NFL draft class, so that issue seemed to be more of a flash in the pan than anything else.
