KC Chiefs' Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney Named Breakout Receivers to Watch
The Kansas City Chiefs have made a concerted effort to get younger and deeper at the wide receiver position, and the club's current group is chock-full of options for quarterback Patrick Mahomes to choose from. With that said, the unit is also largely unproven and its ceiling is met with an equally scary floor.
Gone are veterans JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, as both players departed via free agency earlier this offseason. In their places, Kansas City is relying on the internal development of young pieces such as Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore and Rashee Rice. All three players are at various stages of their rookie-scale arcs and were selected in either the first or second round of their respective drafts. There's no DeAndre Hopkins present to eat away at their snaps (as of the publishing of this article), as only Marquez Valdes-Scantling is a projected top-four wideout on the team. As such, the opportunity for a breakout elsewhere is certainly on the table.
Jordan Schultz of theScore is buying some of that stock, as his list of 10 breakout wide receivers to watch for the 2023 season contained both Moore and Toney. Citing their skill sets the team's desire for at least one of them to embrace more responsibility this year, here is what Schultz wrote about the young pass-catchers:
Two-for-one here. Both Toney and Moore made massive contributions during the Chiefs' 38-35 Super Bowl victory over Philly, showcasing their dynamic playmaking ability (Moore caught a TD and Toney flipped the game as a punt returner). The truth is, I loved Moore as a three-time All-MAC pick out of Western Michigan. He's the ideal weapon for Patrick Mahomes because of how easily you can move him around. He can play the slot, he can play outside, and he can line up in the backfield.
And I can say the same for Toney, whose prowess at stopping on a dime can make even the league’s best defenders look silly. With JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman Jr. departing in free agency, Kansas City would love for one of these young receivers to assume a larger role in 2023, and I believe both will.
Toney, 24, was a first-round pick back in 2021 but never quite latched on as the New York Giants had originally hoped. The Chiefs swooped in at last year's trade deadline to pick him up and once he got healthy, the team's swap with New York became justified. Toney played somewhat sparingly in his first half-season as a Chief and struggled to stay healthy but when on the field, he flashed some of what he can do in Andy Reid's offense. The club has been effusive with praise of him in recent months, and Toney is expected to assume a prominent role at wide receiver this coming season.
Moore, a second-round pick last year coming out of Western Michigan, had an underwhelming rookie season in many regards. He never cracked the top end of Reid's wideout depth chart and hauled in just 22 passes, although he did record a pair of consecutive five-reception outings in Weeks 11 and 12 of the regular season. The 22-year-old notched his first career touchdown in the Super Bowl, and the vibe from Kansas City has been that Moore is also expected to grow within the offense in both role and production as he gets more comfortable and experienced.
It's one thing to garner hype in the offseason, and it's another thing to cash in on that goodwill. All things considered, though, the door is wide open for one or both members of the Moore-Toney pair to take a serious step forward in 2023-24. Reid's offense is tricky to learn in less than a full year, and the aforementioned departures present a notable opportunity. Schultz's list indicates that yet another believer is in the fold.
