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One wouldn’t think Patrick Mahomes would get excited about adding a receiver who’s missed half of his possible games during his career and has caught just two passes for zero yards this season.

But that’s not the case.

The Kansas City Chiefs acquired oft-injured Kadarius Toney from the New York Giants on Thursday in exchange for a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick in 2023. But while some might consider the move to be a gamble, Mahomes seems to be absolutely thrilled with the pickup.

Patrick Mahomes seems to be thrilled with the Chiefs’ acquisition of Kadarius Toney

Patrick Mahomes and Kadarius Toney
(L-R) Patrick Mahomes; Kadarius Toney | Ezra Shaw/Getty Images; Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

A First-Team All-SEC selection and a Second-Team All-American during his final season at Florida in 2020, Toney was taken with the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Giants.

And when he was actually on the field as a rookie, he played decently enough, catching 39 passes for 420 yards, the second-most on the team behind only Kenny Golladay’s 521.

Now, it should be noted that 10 of those receptions and 189 of those yards came in one game against the Cowboys in a 24-point loss, a game Toney didn’t even finish as he was ejected for throwing a punch at Dallas safety Damontae Kazee.

The biggest issue with the former Gator has been his health. The Alabama native appeared in just 10 games last season due to an oblique injury and a bout with COVID-19. And he’s missed the last five weeks of New York’s hot 2022 start with hamstring issues in both legs, meaning he’s only appeared in 12 of a possible 24 games during his short pro career.

But even with healthy, Toney clearly wasn’t fitting in with the Giants’ new regime of GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.

But Mahomes doesn’t think that’ll be a problem with Brett Veach and Andy Reid.

And Toney is obviously ecstatic about the move as well.

The talent is clearly there. And let’s get real here. Daniel Jones isn’t Patrick Mahomes. So Toney is certainly going into a better situation in Kansas City than what he had in New York.

Despite losing Tyreek Hill, Mahomes is having yet another phenomenal season, which is why he’s been either No. 1 or No. 2 in our season-long QB competition since Week 1. Sure, he still has familiar targets Travis Kelce and Mecole Hardman.

But he’s getting more and more comfortable with new additions Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling and now gets a first-round talent in Kadarius Toney, who gets another week to recover from his left hamstring injury as the 5-2 Chiefs are on a bye this week.

You can bet both Toney and Mahomes will be eager to connect for the first time when Kansas City returns in Week 9 for a Sunday night showdown in primetime with the Tennessee Titans.

Have thoughts on this topic? Keep the conversation rolling in our comments section below.

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Luke Norris

Luke Norris began his sportswriting career in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2020. The former Section Editor of the NFL and Motorsports sections, he now spends his time here in the role of Senior Writer-Programmer. His well-rounded sports knowledge allows him to cover the NFL, NBA, PGA Tour, MLB, boxing, WWE, and NASCAR for Sportscasting.

Luke is an avid golfer who finds inspiration in the way sports can bring people together and provide a distraction from the real world. He hopes to provide a little entertainment or an escape from the real world with every article he writes, even if only for a few minutes.

In addition to his work here at Sportscasting, Luke’s work has appeared on  The Sportster, Inquisitr, GiveMeSport, FanSided, Yahoo! Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated.