Chiefs coach Andy Reid discusses new WR Kadarius Toney’s role in Kansas City’s offense
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach bolstered the team’s roster by sending a pair of draft picks to the New York Giants in exchange for wide receiver Kadarius Toney.
There were questions about Toney’s health, because he hasn’t played since Week 2 while nursing a hamstring injury, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid on Monday offered good news on the team’s newest acquisition.
“He is healthy right now, which is a good thing,” Reid said.
With the 6-foot, 193-pound Toney, the Chiefs landed a former first-round pick (20th overall) from the 2021 draft. During his rookie season with the Giants, Toney totaled 39 catches for 420 yards in 10 games with four starts. He had just two catches this season before the trade.
It might not have worked out for the second-year pro in New York, but Toney gets a fresh start playing in one of then NFL’s top offenses — one led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
And the Chiefs are excited to work Toney into their offense.
“Look forward to getting him in the mix somehow,” Reid said. “We’re working through that; we’re meeting as an offensive staff and going through those things now. We’ll just see how it sorts out here.
“We’ve got one football and we’ve got a few guys that we like to get the ball to, and we’ll see how he fits in.”
Reid brings up a good point, of course, because Toney joins a crowded wide receiver group consisting of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman, Justin Watson and rookie Skyy Moore.
Smith-Schuster, who leads the wide receiver group with 34 catches for 494 yards, and Valdes-Scantling, who averages a team-high 16.8 yards per catch, are the starters. Hardman, who is coming off a three-touchdown game in Week 7, can line up anywhere on the field.
Reid expressed confidence in his top three wideouts.
“I like what I’m seeing there,” Reid said. “I like the strength in which JuJu is playing with, the speed in which Marquez is playing. And then, obviously with Mecole, he’s been doing a lot of different things for us and doing them well.”
There is an area that Toney could possibly help immediately, and that’s on special teams as a returner. The Chiefs have relied on Moore as a punt returner through seven games, but Moore, who had just one punt return in college, has muffed two punts.
Toney has four years of college experience as a returner at Florida, where he totaled 15 kickoff returns for 324 yards (21.6 yards per attempt) and 13 punt returns for 147 yards and a touchdown (11.3 yards per attempt).
Reid didn’t say whether Toney would return kicks, but it is an option to consider.
“He’s had experience with that in college, he was actually very good in college with that,” Reid said. “Not as much in the NFL as college, but we know he has that potential, and we’ll just see where that goes as we go forward here.”
It remains to be seen what Toney’s role in the Chiefs’ offense will be. But because the Chiefs already have multiple capable options at receiver, they don’t need to rush him as he starts to absorb their complex offensive scheme.
“I’m not expecting him to learn the whole offense in a day,” Reid said. “I think he’ll be a gradual process going forward even though he is a smart kid. So, I’m sure he’ll pick it up relatively fast.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 1:32 PM.
