Ready or not, Kadarius Toney's time has arrived in New York.
Injuries to Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton will force the Giants to turn to the first-round pick for more production.
"It's something we're focused on right now," coach Joe Judge said of getting Toney more involved in the offense, per the New York Post. "We've got to get him the ball and we definitely want to. We saw [Sunday] a couple of glimpses of just him with the ball in his hands. He's got the ability to make some guys miss in space, he runs hard and he competes. He comes off the ball with a different level of speed than a lot of guys."
In Sunday's loss to Atlanta, Toney touched the ball on back-to-back plays in the second quarter, taking a swing pass for nine yards and hauling in an in-breaking route for seven. He saw one target in his other 40 snaps of the game.
The wideout who missed time this offseason entered the season down the depth chart. He played just 22 plays on offense through the first two games. Big Blue needs more from the first-round pick.
With Shepard and Slayton both dealing with hamstring injuries, the door is open for Toney.
"To say someone is going to just jump in and just replicate completely what we do with those two guys, I don't think that's something we're going to look to do," Judge said. "It's going to be more about playing to his strengths, giving him the opportunity to get the ball in his hands and make some plays."
Judge noted Big Blue isn't going to force the ball to Toney, but the opportunities should arise in the offense, beginning Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
"I'm not going to say we're going to manufacture 50-60 snaps artificially with [Toney]," Judge said, "but in terms of how the Saints are playing, and if the opportunity presents itself, we'll definitely try to get him the ball."
The normally tight-lipped Judge being willing to discuss an increased role for Toney is a new development that shouldn't be overlooked. Clearly, the coach wants OC Jason Garrett to get the first-round pick more involved in the offense moving forward.
