There is a mystery surrounding the New York Giants after their 21-20 come-from-behind win against the Titans in Tennessee on Sunday.
What’s the story with wide receiver Kadarius Toney? The 2020 first-round pick was barely on the field and when he was, he only touched the football twice all game — both in the running game.
The #Giants WR snap counts and targets:
Kenny Golladay 44 (2)
Sterling Shepard 41 (4)
Richie James 40 (6)
David Sills 27 (0)
Wan’Dale Robinson 9 (2)
Kadarius Toney 7 (0)Richie James led the Giants WRs with six targets. Just wow!
Saquon Barkley led the team with seven.
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) September 12, 2022
“We had personnel groups for all our receivers,” head coach Brian Daboll told reporters after the game. “We’ll do that every game. Maybe it’s more, maybe it’s less. [Toney] is in plenty of ’em. Obviously we didn’t get to some of ’em. I thought the plays he was in on he did a good job.”
Can someone tell me at home why this guy isn't playing? When he doesn't get that burn he's not a happy football player. #mindgames #Giants #KT pic.twitter.com/P4aROMJb5s
— LPG – NYG (@LicensePlateGuy) September 11, 2022
Toney rushed twice for 23 yards with a long of 20. The other play apparently was supposed to be an option pass in which Toney wisely chose not to throw the ball.
“Made a good decision on the one play down there at the end of the drive, to take care of the football,” Daboll said.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Toney is down on the depth chart right now. He underwent offseason knee surgery and rehabbed most of the summer. That is coming off last year’s disastrous rookie season which saw him play in just 10 games.
Since being selected 20th overall in last year’s NFL draft out of Florida, Toney has been listed all too frequently on the Giants’ injury report. We’ve counted seven different injuries/illnesses/ailments that have sidelined him thus far in his short career. And there were rumors that first-year general manager Joe Schoen was open to trading him, but he later denied said rumors.
Daboll has repeatedly said that the players that practice will be the one who play on Sundays. Toney is just getting back to practicing the past few weeks, so he’s got a lot of catching up to do and much to prove to the new coaching staff.
Could it change for Toney next week? Maybe.
“We had personnel groups for all our receivers. We’ll do that for every game. Maybe it’s more, maybe it’s less,” Daboll said.
