Big Bob: Tonyan Now Big Blip on Chiefs’ Radar

Clark Hunt had just hired Andy Reid as his head coach, and the Chiefs had a rookie third-rounder named Travis Kelce.

It was 2013, and Robert Tonyan was a redshirt-freshman quarterback at Indiana State. In fact, his first college pass as a Sycamores quarterback was a 57-yard touchdown. But after three starts as a redshirt freshman in 2013, coaches saw a better role and moved him to wide receiver.

Brett Veach and his personnel staff had a similar vision when they signed him to the Chiefs’ practice squad two days before Christmas last season. They saw flashes of a great player – the eighth-year veteran has more career catches (148), receiving yards (1,549) and touchdown receptions (17) than any current Chiefs tight end other than Kelce – with the potential to flourish in a new setting.

Proving Chiefs were correct

Tonyan proved them correct Friday night in Seattle, where he led the team with five catches for 41 yards and caught their only offensive touchdown. Gardner Minshew, who started in place of Patrick Mahomes, found Tonyan in the back of the end zone for a 1-yard score early in the second quarter.

“He's a super smart player, man,” Minshew said after Friday’s game. “He has a great feel for space. Just got out there. He's working with me. It was a good play by him.”

Good because Tonyan shook his coverage with a savvy full stop, hitting the brakes to create a clear passing lane for Minshew. The quarterback had rolled to his right on a designed bootleg pass, then threw back against his body to connect with Tonyan.

Athleticism was evident

Tonyan, 31, also erased any residual doubts as to whether the former quarterback has enough athleticism to help the Chiefs. On a third-quarter reception, he caught Chris Oladokun’s pass in the flat and gracefully hurdled cornerback Damarion Williams near the first-down marker.

“I want to get better every day and those games are a great opportunity to do so,” Tonyan said earlier this month at training camp. “I'm just going to just keep grinding it out. Like I said, this is an Andy Reid camp and just keep on grinding, make full-speed mistakes and don't make them twice, and then just make plays and keep grinding.”

Impressive history before ACL surgery

Tonyan entered the league in 2017, the same class as Mahomes, but went undrafted and signed with the Detroit Lions. He couldn’t make the season-opening roster and spent his rookie year on the Packers’ practice squad, then kept grinding and made the Week 1 roster in 2018.

In 2020, when the 13-3 Packers advanced to the NFC title game, Tonyan had a career year. He recorded 586 yards and 11 touchdowns on 52 receptions, then posted another eight catches for 82 yards in the playoffs, including a touchdown in the conference-championship loss to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.

After season-ending ACL surgery midway through 2021, he recorded 470 yards and two touchdowns on 53 catches in his last season with the Packers, 2022. Then, he played every game for the Bears in 2023 as a reserve before limited action with the Vikings last year.

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