Kadarius Toney Focused on Making Beautiful Music in Giants' Offense

Giants receiver Kadarius Toney is just one part of the new Giants offense's band. But he's locked in and committed to playing a very big role.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jul 29, 2022 4:00 PM EDT

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New York Giants

New York Giants receiver Kadarius Toney knows that his rookie season didn’t go as expected. While much of that was circumstances—he dealt with injuries that cost him seven games and an offensive system that didn’t fully exploit his talents--the maturity issues were his own doing.

All that behind him, last year’s Giants' first-round draft is ready to move on as a wiser and better player and person. Given a clean slate by the new general manager and the new coaching staff, Toney is smiling a lot more than he did last year and is also more at ease.

“It definitely is a lot of fun out there. A lot of juice, a lot of energy,” toney said in his first interview with the media since November. “I like that (the coaching staff) came here.”

Those aren’t just empty words. Toney, who had to miss the OTAs and mandatory spring minicamp while rehabbing from off-season knee surgery, has come in, put his head down, and gone to work learning the team’s new playbook. He's sought to foster on-field chemistry with quarterback Daniel Jones and the rest of the offense.

He also aims to make plays that move the chains and score points, such as the touchdown reception he made this week on a fade that so juiced the team that even head coach Brian Daboll came running down the field to congratulate him.

“It was a conversion route that turned into a fade. It was all about natural ability, and I went up and made a play, and that’s the mindset,” Toney said, trying to downplay the highlight reel catch.

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His smile grew even wider when asked what was more fun: the play itself or the reaction.

“The reaction,” Toney said. “The play is going to be the play regardless. You can make the play a million times, and it’s going to be the same every time you see it. Daniel--the whole team was down there. It was great camaraderie.”

Speaking of the camaraderie, Daboll, in his attempt to build relationships with his players, has been incorporating some of Toney’s music—he goes by the stage name Yung Joka—into the daily practice sessions, something Toney admitted was a surprise.

“I think that’s pretty great; I’m not going to lie,” Toney said when asked what he thought about having his tunes played for his teammates and the fans who have attended practice. “It had me juiced up. I appreciate them for doing it because it shows the willingness to build a relationship with me.”

But he also quickly added, “I need to focus right now. I’m focused on ball right now.”

Speaking of ball, Toney, who has always worked behind the scenes to build relationships and chemistry with his teammates, said he focused on the aspects of his game he felt needed to be improved. But the biggest difference for Toney now that his rookie season is behind him is his confidence and the lessons he learned from his tumultuous first season.

“Yeah, I feel more confident,” he said. “It’s just all about experience. Last year, I was just a rookie coming in kind of young and getting to learn everything. I had experience on the field, had my ups and downs, and I'm just here to be who I am.”

He’s also loving the new offensive system, which he says isn’t as “pen and paper” as maybe other systems were regarding the route running.

“It gives us a chance to win instead of having to do it a certain way every time,” Toney said, adding, “It’s all about chemistry with Danny, too. The coaches can only draw up the plays; we have to execute it at the end of the day. “

Despite his optimism for the year ahead, Toney claimed he hasn’t set any personal goals but is instead focused on the big picture.

“I just do whatever I can to help the team, in whatever way I can,” he said.