Why The Kansas City Chiefs’ Kadarius Toney Could Become A Deep Threat

After the Kansas City Chiefs lost wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman in free agency this offseason and traded away Tyreek Hill the year prior, it’s no secret that Kadarius Toney will have a bigger role in 2023.

He also may take on the added role of deep threat.

“He has a vertical game,” Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said.

Toney ran a blistering 4.39 in the 40 at his University of Florida pro day in 2021. So he has wheels.

But kind of like Percy Harvin, another former first-round pick from Florida, Toney has primarily been more of a versatile, all-over-the-field guy, including lining up as a slot receiver, returner, runner and gadget guy during his career thus far.

Hardman excelled in those latter roles with the Chiefs before signing a one-year contract with the New York Jets. He repeatedly victimized the San Francisco 49ers on end-arounds while scoring three touchdowns in a 44-23 victory last season.

Originally, Hardman, though, was one of the Legion of Zoom’s deep threats. He averaged more than 20 yards a reception during his rookie year.

Toney’s career average is only 10.7 yards per catch (about three yards fewer than Hardman’s). That suggests Toney’s more of a possession receiver like Smith-Schuster, who signed a three-year, $25.5 million deal with the New England Patriots.

Veach, however, questioned whether those low YPC numbers were a function of the offenses he’s played on.

The No. 20 overall pick in 2021 spent his first one-and-a-half years catching passes from Daniel Jones, who has never had a year where he averaged more than 6.8 yards per attempt, in the New York Giants’ dink-and-dunk system.

“Has he ever played with a quarterback that likes to push the ball down the field?” Veach said.

Well, Toney did when he was traded to a Chiefs offense led by Patrick Mahomes, but that transaction occurred on Oct. 27 — or basically halfway through the 2022 season.

Having to quickly cram in the new, complicated offense mitigated the ways he could be used by the Chiefs, making it more difficult for him to become a deep threat from the get-go last year.

It often takes receivers a year or two to master the Chiefs’ scheme.

“We condensed it because we were in the middle of the season. There is only so much you can do and get him on board with,” Veach said. “He picked up that stuff really easy.”

He acclimated to his new team quickly and made a major impact. Perhaps no one played a more significant role in the Chiefs winning Super Bowl LVII, 38-35, against the Philadelphia Eagles.

He scored a five-yard touchdown on the first possession of the fourth quarter to give the Chiefs their first lead, 28-27, of the game.

After the Eagles went three and out on their next possession, Toney returned the punt 65 yards to the Eagles’ five-yard-line. That was the longest punt return in Super Bowl history and set up the Chiefs’ final touchdown of the game.

So there’s no doubt about Toney’s ability to perform on the biggest stage.

But one question is whether he can become more of a vertical threat to take advantage of Mahomes’ transcendent arm strength.

The other question is whether he can stay healthy. He missed 11 of his first 23 NFL games and struggled through hamstring injuries last year, including missing three games during his short stint with the Chiefs.

Veach, though, remains confident in Toney.

“The sky is the limit for him,” he said. “We have a lot of high hopes for him. I mean, he was a first-round pick for a reason.”