Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid has preached patience when it comes to newly-acquired WR Kadarius Toney as he picks up the offense.
Fans are anxious to see the team’s newest offensive weapon hit the ground running in Kansas City. They saw firsthand what Christian McCaffrey was able to accomplish in a few days with San Francisco and are hopeful that Toney could produce similarly.
Reid has tempered expectations, but Toney does have one key advantage that could work in his favor when it comes to picking up the playbook and doing so quickly.
“He’s a smart kid,” Reid said on Wednesday. “He’s been with us a couple days, so we’ve had a chance to talk to him. He picks things up fairly easily. He was with (Giants Offensive Coordinator Mike) Kafka too – Mike – he knows a little bit of the plays, terminology even though they’re using mostly the Buffalo things, a little bit of it’s familiar to him. At least he has a little bit of a foundation, somewhat of a foundation.”
Kafka, of course, spent several seasons coaching in Kansas City, including his last four seasons as the Chiefs’ quarterback coach. He’s now coordinating the offense for the Giants and took some things that he had learned with him. Toney has at least some familiarity with some of the verbiage in the playbook as a result, but he also told reporters there are plenty of differences too.
“Yeah, I’ve seen a few correlations, but a lot of differences too,” Toney said. “I just feel like I’ve got to go in and attack it like I usually do.”
Little by little the new receiver thinks he’ll be able to grasp the offense. As he proves his mastery of the playbook to the coaching staff, he expects that his role within the offense will too expand.
“I’ve always kind of been a smart player,” Toney said. “But I mean, I feel like I’m grasping it like gradually. Like whatever I pick up, they give me more or whatever. So I think if I continue to do that, my role will probably expand.”
It’s only a matter of time for Toney and at the very least the familiarity will serve as a jumping-off point for his role moving forward.
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