NFL Draft Profile: WR Kadarius Toney
Could the versatile Florida WR Toney be a fit for Washington at 19 overall?
It’s officially mock draft season and with Washington picking 19th overall in this year's NFL draft, the range of players that have been mocked to Washington has been quite wide. Lots of draft experts have mocked quarterbacks like Mac Jones to Washington, while others have given the Football Team a linebacker or offensive tackle. Plenty have linked Washington to a wide receiver, which makes plenty of sense if the team doesn’t spend heavy on one in free agency. It seems unlikely the big names like DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Ja’Marr Chase fall to Washington, but it appears to be another strong class of receivers with some interesting prospects.
One of the most intriguing names I’ve seen mocked to Washington is Florida receiver Kadarius Toney. Toney was recruited to Florida as an athlete, having played quarterback in high school. He eventually found his spot as a wide receiver and had a breakout season in 2020, catching 70 passes for 984 yards and 10 touchdowns. He played as a slot receiver, which might put some teams off drafting him in the first round, but his versatility and athleticism could make him an appealing prospect to Washington Offensive Coordinator Scott Turner, who loves versatile and positionless players, like Christian McCaffery in Carolina and Antonio Gibson in Washington.
His speed is probably his most obvious trait. He has plenty of speed to run by defenders and if his team schemes up some good plays, they can take advantage of that speed in key situations.
First play timestamp: 0:00
Notes: Here against Alabama, Toney lines up in the slot to the left. He runs a slot fade, with the outside receiver breaking off his route underneath to occupy the outside cornerback and leave Toney with plenty of space to work outside. While Toney does have plenty of speed, it’s also worth noting how he manipulated the leverage of the defender here. As he releases off the line of scrimmage, he doesn’t immediately work up to full speed and run straight outside. He knows the defender is playing with heavy outside leverage to try and funnel him inside, so he works straight up the field initially to draw the defender inside and prevent them from sinking outside to stay on top of his route. Once he closes the gap between himself and the defender, Toney then bursts outside and shows off his acceleration and speed to run by the defender down the sideline. The quarterback delivers a nice ball and Toney has an easy path to the end zone for a touchdown.
Second play timestamp: 0:20
Notes: On this play against LSU, the defense looks to bracket him with a defender playing inside and underneath him while the safety plays over the top and outside. Toney is tasked with running a deep over while trying to beat two defenders, and he makes it look extremely easy. He initially works inside to force the underneath defender to step inside to try and wall him off from a shallow crossing route. That clears the path for Toney to work more vertically, which he takes. Toney then turns on the burners, showing off his speed as he breaks across the middle and runs away from both defenders. He makes a subtle adjustment to his speed with the ball in the air, just slowing down fractionally to make sure the ball drops over his shoulder before accelerating again down the sideline. He’s eventually pushed out of bounds for about 50 yards on the play.
Toney has the speed to be a threat to the defense from anywhere on the field. His athleticism makes him a good candidate to do all of the “gadgety” type stuff from the slot. He’s a threat on things like jet sweeps, end-arounds and screens. He also has the ability to motion into the backfield and take carries in the run game, much like Curtis Samuel did for Turner in Carolina.
First play timestamp: 0:00
Notes: On this first play, Toney aligns in the slot to the left before motioning into the backfield. He takes the hand off on an outside run to the right. Alabama are alert to the threat, with multiple defenders reading the play and working to the edge to prevent Toney from getting outside. However, with so many defenders working outside, Toney spots a lane to cut back into. He looks unlikely to get more than a couple of yards as he makes his cut, but shows a great ability to make sharp cuts, get skinny through the hole and bounce off arm tackles. Most players would have been happy with a couple yards, but Toney managed to pick up 11 yards and a first down before being tackled to the ground.
Second play timestamp: 0:22
Notes: Like on the first play, Toney aligns to the left of the formation before motioning into the backfield. This time he shifts to the right side of the quarterback and runs a zone scheme play to the left. He shows a nice understanding of the zone scheme, pressing the run to the front side before finding a lane to cut back into. As he cuts back, he breaks through an arm tackle of the edge defender before spinning out of a tackle attempt from the safety. Toney eludes a few more tackles on his way to a 26-yard gain.
But while Toney has all this athleticism and versatility to his game, his ability as a pure receiver shouldn’t be overlooked. He developed strongly over this past season and by the end of the year, his route running was a significant strength that was a threat to defenders in its own right. As we saw earlier, Toney was a significant threat to LSU and they attempted to bracket him throughout the game. Even with that, Toney was able to beat the bracket coverage thanks to this route running.
First play timestamp: 0:00
Notes: Here, Toney runs an over route from the slot, but the way he sets up the route is what makes it so effective. As he releases off the line, he quickly realises he has a bracket coverage again, with the safety doubling up on him. He knows he can run away from that safety with the design of the route, but has to beat the underneath defender too. He attacks the leverage of that defender, who he knows has to wall him off from running any shallow cross, so he uses a controlled pace to close the gap and sell a jab step inside to get that inside defender to step up and try to cut him off. This open space behind him, which Toney uses by accelerating by the defender. He ran away from both defenders and had the quarterback delivered a better throw, he would have had a touchdown.
Second play timestamp: 0:09
Notes: Like we’ve seen before, LSU attempts to bracket Toney again here, but with the safety playing inside him this time instead of outside. Florida uses that to their advantage. Toney runs a basic cross, but sets up the route beautifully. He angles his route inside initially, causing the safety to work inside to try and cut him off. Toney then works vertical for five yards, causing the safety to change direction and try to sink back. Toney then breaks off his route across the middle and was probably available for a throw before the safety could have driven down on the route. However, by Toney taking the attention of the safety, the other receiver outside is left in a one-on-one matchup against a corner playing with outside leverage and no safety help. The receiver runs by him on a post route and Florida hits on a big play, thanks to the extra attention being paid to Toney.
Toney is a very good receiver in his own right, so I don’t think it's fair to label him as purely a gadget type player that he’ll likely be labelled as throughout the draft process. He merits plenty of respect as a pure receiver, which LSU clearly felt was necessary as they bracketed him throughout the game and he still caught nine passes for 182 yards and a touchdown. However, that versatility he does offer is a big weapon when used correctly. I’m sure Scott Turner can already invision Toney aligning in the backfield and running routes from a running back spot instead of in the slot to try and work a favorable matchup.
First play timestamp: 0:00
Notes: On this first play against Alabama, Toney aligns in the backfield and runs a wheel route. The hope is to get Toney matched up on a linebacker, but Alabama keeps a defensive back on him with the deep safety alert to his presence too. Toney does a great job selling his route as just a flat route, forcing the defender to flip his hips towards the sideline and run to the flat. Toney then suddenly cuts his route sharply up the field, cutting inside of the defender who can’t prevent his momentum from working outside. The quarterback delivers a solid ball and Toney makes the catch, dragging the defender with him for additional yards after the catch.
Second play timestamp: 0:11
Notes: Where Toney could be a huge threat is on option routes. He has the understanding of leverage, the quickness of feet and sharp cutting ability to beat most defenders on choice routes where he can either break inside, outside or sit his route down depending on the coverage. These routes are particularly effective out of the backfield because it can allow Toney to get matched up on a linebacker that gets isolated as other defenders are occupied elsewhere. Toney shows a nice smooth route up to the break point, setting himself up with the ability to cut either way. As the defender plays with heavy inside leverage, Toney breaks outside where he’s wide open for the quarterback. After that, Toney shows off just how good he is after the catch, turning a five-yard reception into a 20-yard gain.
For Washington, Toney’s fit is obvious. Turner has already shown a tendency to like the type of versatility Toney offers and he could make an excellent addition in the slot. The question for Washington is if he could potentially develop into a Z receiver that plays outside at times too. I think he’s a good enough route runner and attacks leverage so well that he could, but perhaps they’d think differently. If they believe he can play outside, then Toney would be a strong pick at 19. If they see him as only a slot receiver, then that lessens his value somewhat and they might consider him more of a second-rounder. However, as we saw with Gibson last year, Washington values his type of skillset and versatility higher than many other teams, so even if they view him as just a slot receiver, he could have enough upside in Turner’s system to still be a good pick at 19.