In what was a loaded wide receiver class in 2021, Kadarius Toney was the choice of the New York Giants to strengthen their receiving corps. Of course, Toney was only able to play in 10 games during his rookie campaign while fighting off injury, but he showed flashes of potentially being the next great pass-catcher. CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso believes with that rookie season behind Toney, the former Florida Gators football playmaker is going to become one of the NFL’s elites in 2022.
“Being dynamic with the ball in his hands is not new behavior from Toney,” Trapasso wrote. “That was his trademark at Florida. He’s a freaky athletic specimen, too. And the Giants can’t be infected by the injury bug as badly as they were in 2021, so opposing defenses will have a fair share of legit talent to scheme to stop outside of Toney. The former first-round pick will be viewed as one of the NFL’s most dynamic gadget-type weapons after his second season.”
The 20th overall pick coming out of Florida, Toney had a stellar 2020 campaign during his final college season, setting himself up for a high draft stock. A three-star prospect in the 2017 recruiting class, and the No. 27 player in the state of Alabama, Toney never even hit 300 receiving yards in a season during his first three years with the Gators but then exploded for 984 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic shortening the season.
While Toney looked like he was going to make a splash with the Giants, his injuries made that nearly impossible. Toney played in just 10 games, catching 39 passes for 420 yards. He did not score a touchdown during his rookie campaign either. Toney recently reflected on his rookie campaign and admitted that it was a struggle to get through it.
“It was frustrating, but at the end of the day, I knew it was all part of the plan for the longer future,” Toney said in June on the Giants Huddle of having several different injuries. “Like I guess this year. OK, went through stuff last year. How are you going to shape back the next year? That’s where I look at it as — probably just the adversity. I don’t really look at it as a good or a bad thing at the end of the day. Probably just the adversity. Everybody faces adversity.”
Toney and the Giants look to bounce back from a 4-13 season in 2021 that ended them in last place in the NFC East. New York will open the 2022 season on the road, facing the Tennessee Titans, followed by five straight games playing back at home.
