The Chiefs executed a midseason trade, trading a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick for second-year wideout Kadarius Toney. An electrifying talent who has yet to live up to his potential, Toney will enter Kansas City with a chip on his shoulder, for a team that needed an injection of juice.
Expect the unexpected. This a great motto to live by, especially if you are a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs. Thursday Brett Veach made a deal that was not on the radar of many, but it was a deal that might have added another dynamic playmaker to the Kansas City Chiefs roster.
Kadarius Toney was a former first-round pick for the New York Giants and has in small windows shown flashes of brilliance. A dynamic playmaker, he has electrifying speed, the ability to cut on a dime, and the silky smooth hands to bring in almost any ball. Although his sample size in the NFL is small, it provides more than enough of a glimpse into the player that Toney could be.
Playing in ten games as a rookie in 2021, Toney recorded just 39 catches for 420 yards and no touchdowns. Not a good stat line by any standard, but it is the film that the was able to put up in the games that he did flash in that creates the excitement in this trade.
Toney was at one point a top 15 player in the 2021 NFL Draft. His film had done enough to even create a buzz around him as a player to the point where he drew Tyreek Hill and Deebo Samuel comparisons. It’s easy to overreact during the draft season but to see this level of ability on an NFL field, no matter how small the sample size is enough to create excitement.
Looking at a long-term plan the Chiefs will have Toney under contract for the next three years, which is beneficial for a team that only has two wide receivers under contract for the foreseeable future. Toney can return punts and feels like a pre-designed shoo-in to replace Mecole Hardman and some point during his tenure in Kansas City.
In my eyes, this move marks the end of Mecole Hardman’s time in Kansas City, despite how he has played this year. Toney brings a similar skill set, with perhaps a more developed route tree than Hardman has ever had, but he will be heavily utilized by Andy Reid at some point during his tenure in Kansas City.
Toney could be here to replace Hardman, but he can be so much more for this team. In the film clips provided, he looks like he could be excellent in the screen game, as well as the jet read, and sweep game of the Chiefs. His vision and ability to make cuts downfield make him hard to get ahold of, and his contact balance makes him an elite talent.
At one point while studying the 2021 draft class I was all in on Toney, for the reasons mentioned above, but I felt like he could have been the piece to put the Chiefs over the top, from a great team, into an all-time team.
The trade is done and Toney will be a Chief for the foreseeable future. Whether he makes a significant impact will be up to him. He will have every chance imaginable with an All-Pro cast of talent surrounding him, and the best quarterback in the NFL throwing him the football. It is possible that he ends up changing the game for Kansas City.
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