Awaken from a play slumber in New York, Toney’s new home in Arrowhead means he could be a major role in a Kansas City offense that has plenty of weapons already
Kansas City, MO– Playing football is tough, yet Toney has somehow made it look easy. New York’s first round pick in 2021 spent one tumultuous season in the Big Apple before forcing the Giants to trade him to Kansas City.
Wasted talent is an understatement as Toney was regarded as one of the biggest boom or bust prospects of the 2021 Draft, and got off to a hot start in New York. In 2021, Toney played in 10 games catching 39 out of 57 targets for 420 yards. Towards the latter of the year, rumors arose when Toney became displeased with the Giants handling of his injury and his play time. Teammates began to call Toney a cancer and a liability to the locker room, and only 2 games into the 2022 season, the Giants let him go.
Enter Kansas City. The departure of speedster Tyreek Hill to Miami opened up a slot perfect for Toney with a similar play style and traits. Both are lightning-quick wide receivers with an affinity for getting themselves open, a characteristic which Toney has lived up to despite being overshadowed by a cast of weapons amidst a loaded Chiefs team.
Even with WR1 Mecole Hardman and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce, Toney showed flashes of being the player the team has wanted him to be when he scored his first NFL touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10 when he scored in acrobatic fashion tip toeing the sideline and hopping from the 6-yard line to get 6 points.
“I didn’t think he was going to score on that one, but it was cool to see,’’ Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “Everybody was excited for him. Luckily, he didn’t run out of bounds. He was getting close there on the sideline.’’
Now, Toney will have a prime opportunity to show what he’s made of and that he is primary wide receiver material. With Mecole Hardman ruled out of the Chiefs’ Divisional Round matchup with the Jaguars, Toney will have to step up into a role that he was starved of in New York. Toney has been a Swiss Army Knife amongst the Kansas City arsenal. He’s lined up in nearly every position one can imagine on offense, everything short of offensive line that is.
Receiving snaps at wide receiver, slot, tight end, quarterback, and even running back, Toney’s versatility makes him a strong asset, not a liability like some teams saw him. “K.T. is a special talent,’’ Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling said. “He was able to come in and learn quickly. We put him in some positions to get him the ball and find out how he can help this team because he’s super dynamic.
Toney has shown his talent in college at the University of Florida, being an elusive route runner with explosive facets along with simply being an X-factor on the field. He hopes that some of that can transfer to this week’s game against the Jaguars. He’s shown flashes of greatness in New York, but the Giants haven’t had the best luck at the receiver position.
Finding himself deeply enveloped in possibly one of the biggest wide receiver storylines of the year with Kenny Golladay’s 72 million dollar signing, Toney was feast or famine– seesawing between being hurt and having monster games like his 10 catch 189-yard game versus Dallas.
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Now, being traded to Kansas City, he’s ready to once again reprise his WR1 role he’s yearned to get. It’s not just the rest of the world that sees Toney’s potential. In fact, none see it better than the very Chiefs teammates that have grown accustomed to see his rubberband-like ability nearly everyday. “He’s one of those guys where his awareness is crazy,” tight end Travis Kelce says. “You think he’s got eyes in the back of his head because he sees guys coming from different angles and stuff. We haven’t seen the full arsenal that is him yet, but I think he’s definitely going to help us out in the near future, definitely in the long run, for sure.”
While Toney hasn’t gotten nearly as many opportunities as he’d like to in KC, he’s set to be the star of the show in a matchup against Trevor Lawrence and the red hot Jaguars… the same team he played when he got his first ever touchdown– fate?
