Coaches explain what makes Toney special
NEW YORK — Giants wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert is not prone to hyperbole. So his description of Kadarius Toney’s skill set in a Friday phone call with the Daily News was eye-opening.
“In my opinion he was the best player in this draft with the ball in his hands,” Tolbert said. “This guy can make you miss and he can break tackles. Some guys can make you miss and go the distance. Some guys can’t make you miss, but they’ll run you over. This guy does both. And he has great contact balance when the ball is in his hands.”
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer admitted he’s jealous of the Giants.
Meyer told ESPN’s College Gameday on Friday that it “broke my heart” when a team drafted a player ahead of his Jaguars’ pick at No. 25. On Saturday, Meyer revealed that player was Toney.
“I got to know him over the last couple weeks,” Meyer said. “You watch him play and he’s a human highlight reel.”
The Giants’ No. 20 overall selection of Toney showed their obvious affinity for the player, but hearing Joe Judge’s staff talk about him the past few days, it’s obvious the team doesn’t just view him as a gadget or slot receiver.
They think he can do it all.
“He’s capable of playing outside receiver. He will play outside receiver. And he’s been told he’ll play outside receiver,” Tolbert said. “Just like with Kenny Golladay now, we’re teaching him the concept of everything so wherever they line up they’ll know what to do and won’t be pegged as an inside or outside guy.
“There are some guys who have skills to be more productive as an outside or inside,” Tolbert added. “But the good thing about KT is the fact he can do both at a really high level.”
Plenty of the Giants’ coaches have known this about Toney for a long time, too.
Assistants Jeremy Pruitt and Jody Wright (Alabama) and Kevin Sherrer (Georgia) all recruited Toney as a star quarterback out of Mattie T. Blount High School in 2016.
“The last time I remember having a conversation with him was at a 7-on-7 camp at Alabama, and I believe his team won with him playing quarterback, and he was playing free safety on defense,” said Pruiitt, who tried to recruit Toney as a defensive back. “It was me and him standing there talking at Bryant Denny Stadium for a pretty long time.”
Pruitt watched Toney practice several times in high school. Toney took an unofficial visit but ultimately chose Florida. Then
Pruitt had the honor of trying to stop Toney when he became Tennessee’s head coach.
“When he gets the ball in his hands, he’s like a running back,” Pruitt said. “You have to tackle him. Some guys look to go down. He doesn’t look to go down. He has really good balance and body control. He can make you miss. He’s really tough. And he’s got speed to accelerate and take it the distance . I remember talking to him about being more of a defensive back. He obviously made the right decision.”
Toney dropped only three of his 123 catchable targets for the Gators, per Pro Football Focus. He erupted his senior year for 1,145 scrimmage yards and 11 touchdowns, on top of 294 yards and a touchdown in the return game.
Judge and his coaching staff don’t intend to hand their players anything, Toney included.
The head coach said after picking him: “There’s a lot of things he can do and has a lot of versatility, but like every rookie coming in here, they’ve got to earn what they get and we’re going to work them multiple positions to find their strengths. We can’t assume what we saw on college tape is the best fit for them.”
But Toney’s physical tools are so unique, it shouldn’t be difficult to find a place for him.