Why the Chiefs may deploy Kadarius Toney at running back after dismal ’23 season

The Chiefs have welcomed a running back to training camp without adding a player.

Wide receiver Kardarius Toney has lined up in the backfield and taken snaps at running back in practice this week. He’s not supplanting Isiah Pacheco or Clyde Edwards-Helaire on the depth chart, but he provides a dash of speed to the position.

Being able to play both wide receiver and running back “is one of his strengths,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Toney. “Being able to move him around ... He had some positive snaps for us at running back last year, and I think he enjoys doing that.”

Toney ripped off a pair of 14-yard gains in 2023, one against the Philadelphia Eagles and the other against the Buffalo Bills during the regular season. He finished the season with 31 yards in 11 attempts.

Over his three NFL seasons, including 12 games with his original team, the New York Giants, Toney has accumulated 119 rushing yards and a 5.7-yard average. He logged an 11-yard rushing touchdown for the Chiefs in their 2022 regular-season finale at the Las Vegas Raiders.

Toney has taken the majority of his snaps at wide receiver, with mixed results. In 20 games and five starts for the Chiefs over the past two seasons, he has 41 receptions for 340 yards and three touchdowns.

The highlights: a 5-yard touchdown catch to give the Chiefs their first lead in a Super Bowl LVII triumph over the Philadelphia Eagles, and a Super Bowl-record 65-yard punt return that set up another touchdown.

But there have been low points, too. In last season’s opening-game loss to the Detroit Lions, Toney dropped three passes, including one that deflected off him and was returned for a touchdown by the opposition.

Later in the season, an amazing touchdown reception — from Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce, who lateraled across the field to Toney — was wiped out because Toney had lined up offside on the play. The Chiefs lost that game to the Bills.

Another Toney bobble turned into an interception at the New England Patriots. It didn’t cost the Chiefs a victory, but after that game Toney didn’t see the field again. He was inactive for the final three regular-season and all four playoff games.

The Chiefs have invested in wide receivers this offseason, adding veteran Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and using their first-round draft pick to select Xavier Worthy out of SMU. Rashee Rice, the team’s top wide receiver as a rookie in 2023, returns, too ... but he is facing a potential suspension following a car crash in Dallas this spring.

Toney, in the final year of his rookie contract, would seem to be battling Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, Mecole Hardman, Justyn Ross and perhaps Nikki Remigio for the team’s six or seven wide receiver slots. The Chiefs kept seven last season.

In a crowded position group, versatility could make a difference for Toney.

“He’s multi-faceted in what he can do and we’re going to try and utilize it,” Reid said..