Kadarius Toney and other 2021 NFL Draft prospects seeing their stock rise
By John Blair
This week’s list of players seeing their stock rise includes several players who entered the 2020 season as day three picks but now are projected as first or second round 2021 NFL Draft prospects. Up first, one of the most exciting playmakers in the entire class.
Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida
Kadarius Toney’s career got off to a slow start at Florida. Over his first three seasons, he was only able to account for 50 receptions and two receiving touchdowns. During his first three years on campus, he was known more as an athlete than a pure receiver. However, that changed this year when Toney was able to haul in 70 passes for 984 yards and 10 touchdowns.
His strong 2020 season allowed Toney to earn an invite to the Senior Bowl and to be considered a possible first-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
The biggest area Toney improved on this year is his route running. His coach Dan Mullen sums up his transformation the most when he says “Tony went from a guy that was a playmaker into a guy that is an every-down, one of the best wide receivers in the country.” This is evident in how Florida used him this season as he was much more of a downfield passing threat and was not just someone you could use on short little screens or hand him the ball on jet sweeps.
To go along with his improved route running Toney offers several skills that could make him a late first or early second-round pick. The most impressive one of these skills is the ability to make plays with the ball in his hand. He shows outstanding elusiveness and is very hard to tackle in the open field. He also is able to contribute on special teams as he averaged 12.6 yards on punt returns and 15.4 yards on kickoff returns.
A couple of areas I want to see if he can do at an NFL level during Senior Bowl week is route running and being physical enough to make the catch in traffic. Even though he has improved on his route running in college this still is one of the biggest concerns with him. I also want to see him be more physical at the catch point and be able to go fight and snag the ball away from a defender.