Kadarius Toney is a lightning rod. He’s fun to watch because you never know what you’re going to get. Toney can turn what looks like a dead play into a 60-yard touchdown in the blink of an eye but the Gators haven’t had him available the last six games.
After a shoulder injury he suffered against UT-Martin sidelined him for nearly two months the electric playmaker was back on the practice field last week during Florida’s bye week.
“It’s great to have KT back. He brings a whole different aspect. He’s going to be a different receiver than the rest of us because of the things he can do with the ball in his hands,” senior receiver Josh Hammond said Monday. “It will be interesting to see what other tricks and packages that Coach Mullen will put in for him. We’ll be able to use him in a lot of different ways to throw defenses off.”
Hammond has been one of the benefactors of not having Toney in the lineup. Toney is used a lot in Florida’s running game because of his skill-set and athleticism. Without him in the lineup, Hammond picked up a lot of those responsibilities and this season he has five carries for 96 yards. Hammond had just 3 carries for 33 yards in his career prior to this season.
The Gators’ offense has been effective this season, more so in the passing game than the rushing game, and getting Toney back could help the ground attack. However, Florida has adapted to life without Toney for six games. You’re never going to say you’re better off with a player of Toney’s ability not playing, but how do you work him back into the gameplan without throwing off what your offense has been doing for most of the season without him?
“The nice thing we do offensively, we spread the ball around a lot to guys. I don’t know that it’s taking guys out, he just gets to come back into the rotation and he’ll hopefully get some touches.” Dan Mullen said. “We always kind of just take what the defense gives us. If he gets the ball in his hand, we know he can do some good things. If he doesn’t, then, you know, other guys can do some good things, too. Offensively, we’ve kind of let the defense dictate who touches the ball. We’re going to take what they give us.”
In 14 games under Mullen Kadarius Toney has 53 touches, averaging just fewer than four touched per game. Some of that is on Toney, he took a while in 2018 to earn the trust of the coaches and wasn’t in as many packages as he was during the beginning of the 2019 season. Getting Toney back doesn’t mean the coaching staff will give him the ball 15 times against Georgia but they don’t need to. Having Toney back and available may be enough. He’s a player that Georgia has to scheme for on defense. When he’s on the field he’s a guy they have to find and account for. In that sense, he’s affecting the defense even when the ball isn’t in his hands and that’s a win for Florida.
“KT is a playmaker so anytime you get him the ball in space, he is going to make a play,” Kyle Trask said. “I think it’s going to help our offense a lot this week just having him back as a weapon, going against a great defense like Georgia has.”