Kadarius Toney sets to make one of his patented cuts earlier this season against South Carolina. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Gifted Gator: Multi-Talented Kadarius Toney A Rapping Receiver
Friday, November 6, 2020 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – His undershirt is drenched by sweat and clings to his trim and muscular torso. He pushes the colorful dreadlocks that serve as curtains over his eyes to the side so he can look a visitor in the face. As he speaks, Kadarius Toney frequently adjusts the mask covering his face for COVID-19 protection, cognizant of when it's about to dip below his nose.
Toney is so close yet seems far away, a mysterious figure who can disappear at any moment. During this encounter, Florida's dynamic playmaker from Mobile, Ala., has just finished practice as the eighth-ranked Gators prepare for Saturday's showdown against fifth-ranked Georgia in Jacksonville.
As his teammates pass by, most of them bigger -- and by the way they are moving, more physically drained from practice -- Toney still has a distinctive bounce in his step. At 6-foot and 190 pounds, Toney is one of those rare players who appears bigger out of pads. He emits a palpable energy when in his presence, a constant blend of motion and movement.
Anyone who has watched Toney play has seen how that vitality translates on the game's green canvas, where he can make the impossible become reality in a blink of an eye.
"KT is, honestly, one of a kind because he does things that regular people can't do,'' Gators tight end Kyle Pitts said.
It happened in last week's win over Missouri. One second, Toney caught a screen pass from quarterback Kyle Trask, zigged and zagged his way down the sideline, found himself trapped by a swarm of Tigers ready to pounce, and somehow in a blur, spun backward into open space as Missouri would-be tackles flailed and stumbled. The next, Toney burst into an unclogged lane and raced into the end zone, an 18-yard miracle score that gave the Gators a six-point lead they would never relinquish in a 41-17 win.
Kadarius Toney following last week's win over Missouri. (Photo: Hannah White/UAA Communications)
Another KT masterpiece.
"It's like him figuring out a problem and trying to solve it,'' said Dana Toney, Kadarius' father. "That's what he does when he gets in there."
Ask Toney how he makes a play like that and he laughs. He doesn't have a clue. It's a gift, not something he planned. It just happened.
"I've made a lot of plays, that one just ended in a touchdown,'' he said. "That's the only difference. I felt like that's my first or second top play [in college]. It just felt good with the energy around."
What about that spin move? What popped into his head when he escaped and found a clear path to the end zone?
"Oh my god, I can score this,'' he said. "I tried to run as fast as I can."
ROAD TO IMPROVEMENT
Dana Toney was at the Missouri game. He jumped to his feet in Section 32 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, located on the same end of the stadium where his son's two first-half scores in a span of 33 seconds gave the Gators a 20-7 halftime lead, to enjoy the performance like everyone else. He said has been to every Gators game home and away the past four seasons, including the six in 2019 when Kadarius was sidelined due to injury.
If Toney's moves sometime shock fans, teammates the media, Dana is more difficult to impress.
"Believe it or not, Kadarius was doing some of the same things at 6 that he is doing now,'' Dana said. "He's had some humdingers, some really good ones."
Over the years, whether it was when Kadarius began playing youth football at Trinity Gardens Park in Mobile, the same park where Dana played growing up, or at Blount (Ala.) High or UF, Dana has a story he likes to tell. It was Toney's second day playing organized football.
The story starts a year earlier when Dana took a young Kadarius along to watch the son of Dana's friend, Raymond Griffith, play in a local Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl. Kadarius took a deep interest in the game and the next year, when he was 6, Dana signed him up to play. On the first day of practice, Kadarius stood out as an athlete, a fact obvious to everyone who watched Kadarius dust the rest of the team in sprints.
The next day, Dana arrived at practice after the team had taken the field and noticed the coach had Kadarius playing quarterback. He grew concerned that perhaps that was too much too soon to put on a 6-year-old novice's plate.
"Look, my son has never played organized ball, are you sure you want to do this?" Dana asked. "So, the coach goes, 'trust me, dad, let me work with him.' He was just a little different, naturally gifted."
Dana was a good athlete and basketball player as a young man but said he didn't have the opportunities Kadarius had coming out of Blount High, where he accounted for 120 touchdowns in his career as a receiver, running back and quarterback. He was named Alabama Class 6A Back of the Year as a senior.
Gators offensive coordinator Brian Johnson recently said Toney probably has the strongest arm on the team despite moving to running back and then receiver with the Gators. He's just different.
"I'm really proud of Kadarius," Johnson said. "I think it just goes to show his overall football intelligence. He literally can play all three spots for us at receiver. He has a great football IQ and a really natural feel for the game."
Still, what Toney has done through four games this season has opened Orange & Blue eyes and beyond. He has 22 catches and six touchdowns, showing range as a receiver far beyond the screen passes and dance steps of previous seasons. In the win over Missouri, Toney ran a crisp route, juked a defender to get open, and caught a 30-yard touchdown down the field and added a 16-yard run that broke the game open early in the second half.
Toney's improved route-running and ability to get open has Georgia's attention.
"Much more [of a threat]," Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said this week. "He was always good. Now, it's like he's a more polished receiver on top of the utility stuff. He's extremely hard to tackle. He's got extreme one-step quickness and he plays powerful. When people hit him, he doesn't go backwards. He's physical in what he does. He has become a better receiver."
But not by accident or via gifted athleticism alone. Toney said his improvement began to take shape last season as he worked to return from injuries. The time away prompted a re-evaluation of what kind of player he was and wanted to be.
Not playing also refueled his love for the sport. He grew up playing other sports, but by high school, Toney said his affinity for football far surpassed the rest.
"It's just really the mindset that evolved over the time I was injured,'' Toney said. "It just made me look at a whole different aspect of the game and what I got to do to get better and how to improve myself. I just took that and focused on what I needed to focus on.
"On my end, it was like I felt I was letting people down because I know what I bring to the game,'' he continued. "To see my teammates out there playing, I felt like I was letting those guys down. That's why I ended with a big bang after I came back from my injury. I was just so full of energy and ready to get at it."
In Florida's win over Florida State, Toney caught a season-high four passes for 65 yards, which in his view helped set the tone for his offseason.
"That's a glimpse of what I'm doing this year,'' he said. "It's really just a perspective kind of thing, honestly, to me. I was never put in position to make those kinds of plays. I was always just a gadget guy in a way. I developed over this summer by fully running around and getting connected with the quarterbacks and other receivers on working with technique and the different things I need to do."
Toney credits receivers coach Billy Gonzales and Florida's talented group of receivers, including the veteran group from a season ago now in the NFL, with really helping him understand the nuances of the position. He can take care of the rest with his ability.
The way Toney has improved this season, he will be joining his former teammates in the NFL next season.
"He's done a great job. We know he's a playmaker, but he's really worked on becoming an every-down player,'' Gators coach Dan Mullen said. "You put the ball in his hand and watching him make people miss or breaking tackles is one thing. The thing I've been most pleased with is his his route-running and his ability to take that talent and his quickness and his escapability and put that into route-running context and be a great route runner."
VERSATILE PERFORMER
Much like the player he has become on the field, Toney is also multi-dimensional away from the spotlight of playing for the Gators. He is an aspiring rap artist whose stage name is Yung Joka.
Yung Joka is his escape from the game.
"I will say the music actually keeps me balanced and it helps me express how I feel about things and get in touch with other people,'' he said. "I've seen my music touch people and affect them in a positive way. That keeps me motivated and neutral about a lot of things."
Gators receiver Kadarius Toney goes by Yung Joka in his aspiring rap career. Here is his artist profile page on Apple Music.
Toney said he first started to rap around the fifth or sixth grade, usually busting out rhymes in school to entertain his classmates. He began to take it more seriously when he arrived at UF and began to make music videos and perform live. Following the Gators' Orange Bowl win over Virginia, Toney had a spot opening for hip-hop artist Lil Keed at a show in Miami.
According to his artist profile on the online streaming service Spotify, Yung Joka is described as an up-and-coming rapper "known for his melodic and soft-textured voice." Dana said performing and writing songs gives his son another outlet to occupy his time and creativity.
Whether you talk to coaches, teammates or his dad, they all voice a familiar theme: Toney's work ethic is as hard to take down as he is.
"The thing I think is different from him – we have a lot of talented athletes in our family – is that Kadarius actually loves football,'' Dana said. "He loves it. I think that's what sets him apart. I do several things, but I don't have any one thing that I'm actually in love with that I feel that I just have to do."
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down college athletics in the spring, Toney retreated for a while to Georgia to visit with relatives. He found a mental place that he said has contributed to his success in 2020.
He didn't leave the house much to protect his health, but instead trained often by doing sit-ups, pushups and sprints. The break from norm allowed him to clear his mind to prepare for his final season. When it was time to rejoin the Gators, Toney said he arrived ready to work.
"Honestly, I feel like I play better when I am mentally clear and don't have to worry about anything at all,'' he said. "I've been playing the same way all my life. I've just got a love and passion for it. That ain't never going away.
"I think it's kind of cool when people notice you put in work and do something different. I'm thankful that people are paying attention on what was the difference on me last year and the difference on me now. I'm going to end it right there."
This story is over, but Toney's story is to be continued.
