Kansas City Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney hit the practice field for the first time on Wednesday, but the team had an idea about the type of player he was well before that. The team first broached the subject of a trade for Toney in the offseason, but they also showed interest in the player when he was coming out of the University of Florida in the 2021 NFL draft.
“Obviously, he came out a couple of years ago, so we had an opportunity to see him because he was one of the higher-rated receivers coming out during that time,” Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy said on Thursday. “So we had an idea of who he was as a player. And so, that’s the beauty of it. Obviously, the kid is a very talented kid. For whatever reason, it didn’t work out in New York (Giants). Sometimes a change in address is good for a number of reasons. So, we’re hoping that a change of address is good for this kid.”
Now that the team has finally managed to acquire Toney, they’re getting a chance to see him in action firsthand. Bieniemy was asked about what he saw from Toney in his first practice session on Wednesday.
“I thought the kid did a good job, obviously we’re not going to exhaust him,” Bieniemy said. “Kid’s a very good football player, but we just want to make sure that he can mix in with our guys because we have some good players that are doing a very good job. We want the chemistry to work. Obviously, we still got to get some timing up with Pat (Mahomes). But as far as a football player, the kid’s a heck of a player, the kid’s a very, very smart kid and we just want him to fit in our culture and basically understand what we do and then put him in position to have an opportunity to be his best.”
Toney’s position coach echoed similar sentiments, explaining that he’s picking things up in the classroom. Now it’s just a matter of getting all of that to translate in practice and on the gridiron on Sundays too.
“He’s been great for the two or three days that he’s been here so far,” Bleymaier said. “He’s picking everything up, super good memory retention. We had heard he was smart and he’s demonstrating that classroom side of it. It’s been very impressive. (He’s) very intelligent. Now it’s just a matter of translating that on the practice field. So far, yesterday was good. Today will be another day, and we’ll just keep stacking them.”
Toney is even making an impression on Dave Toub after taking some limited special teams repetitions as a return specialist during Wednesday’s practice.
“He’s strong,” Toub said. “He’s got really good vision, and he’s got great suddenness and he’s very strong. That’s one of the things that when I talked to the special teams coach at the Giants too and that’s the first thing he said is how strong he (is). It’s the same things that he’s seen that we saw in college too.”
