We’ve seen good, bad and ugly from wide receiver Kadarius Toney in his NFL career, and he is finally taking some accountability for his poor 2023 season.
“I told coach (Andy Reid), I told Pat (Mahomes), I told all the guys, ‘That’s on me,'” Toney said to ESPN. “At the end of the day, you all count on me and rely on me to make certain plays, and I’ve got to be there to do that.
“There [isn’t] really [any] excuse.”
The former Giants first-round pick showed flashes of brilliance with Big Blue and the Chiefs, but has since failed to make good on his immense talent and potential.
Notably, Toney dropped several key passes in the Chiefs’ Week 1 loss to the Detroit Lions.
He has just 83 receiving yards on 14 receptions in five games in 2023, the fourth-lowest yards per reception mark in the NFL for any player with a minimum of 13 targets.
The only receivers with worse marks are Seahawks rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Giants wideouts Parris Campbell and Wan’Dale Robinson.
Toney will seemingly need to regain the belief in his coaches, as he is yet to play more than 40 percent of the offensive snaps in a game this year.
Meanwhile, rookie Rashee Rice and veterans Justin Watson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling have seen increases in playing time over the past several weeks.
Toney, 24, did have a season-high in catches (five) against the beatable Vikings secondary on Sunday, but has been a complete non-factor in the red zone.
He is the only receiver on the Chiefs roster, including running backs, that has not seen a single receiving target in the red zone since his horrific Week 1 performance.
The former first-round pick has been a lightning rod on and off the field for several months, including after a strong Super Bowl performance when he nearly returned a punt for a touchdown.
He infamously got into a Twitter confrontation with a Giants fan, telling the person to “Get your p––y a– outta my DM’s unless you droppin’ an addy.”
Toney also had problems in college when he was at the University of Florida. He and a friend allegedly held and pointed what appeared to be an assault rifle at individuals on campus in May 2018.