Kansas City Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney has continued to get acclimated in his return from injury, increasing his snap counts week over week.
With more snaps each week, his role on offense is also expanding. While the majority of his production has come in the short passing game and on designed touches so far, Toney added something new to his arsenal in Week 17 against the Denver Broncos. He recorded two deep receptions (20+ yards) on the right side of the field totaling 65 yards. On one play he ran a deep slant from the right side of the field and on the other he ran a deep wheel route out of the backfield.
Speaking to reporters after the game on Sunday, Mahomes explained what Toney’s emergence as a weapon in the deep passing game means.
“Yeah, he’s another weapon,” Mahomes said of Toney. “I mean, obviously, you’ve all seen him when he gets the ball and he can make people miss and make stuff happen, but I don’t think people have really seen him run those deep routes yet. So, when you have another guy that can go deep and take the pressure off guys like Marquez (Valdes-Scantling) and Mecole (Hardman) when he gets back, and J-Wat (Justin Watson), Skyy (Moore), all those guys and to have another guy (Kadarius Toney), it helps you to be more diverse as an offense. They don’t know where it’s coming from.”
Mahomes and Toney will continue to work to build their report and timing on deep routes in Week 18 against the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s still a work in progress as the two have only been working together since November.
Toney’s emergence as a threat in the deep passing game should allow some more creativity within the offensive scheme as the team heads into the playoffs. The more that Toney can do, the more Chiefs HC Andy Reid and OC Eric Bieniemy can get the most talented receivers on the field all at once.
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