Kadarius Toney forging bond with Brian Daboll through rap text messages

INDIANAPOLIS — There has not yet been a face-to-face meeting between Brian Daboll, the new Giants head coach, and Kadarius Toney, the team’s 2021 first-round draft pick. There have been FaceTime connections and also another form of communication.

“He sends me a couple of his songs every now and then so I can give him an evaluation of those, too,’’ Daboll said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Daboll did not go public with his review of the music stylings of Toney, who goes by Yung Joka as his rapper persona. The forthcoming challenge is to get Toney to make some noise on the field after a highly disappointing rookie year.

The Giants traded down and selected Toney out of Florida with the No. 20-overall pick last spring. They got very little in return. Toney was in and out of practice and often missing from the lineup with a wide assortment of physical ailments, plus two positive COVID-19 tests. In 10 games, he had only 39 receptions for 470 yards, an average of only 10.8 yards per catch for a slot receiver reputed to be dynamic with the ball in his hands. He did not have any touchdowns.

Of all the players on the roster who might benefit from Daboll’s offensive approach, Toney might be high on the list.

“Fun guy to watch,’’ Daboll said. “Quickness, speed, play-making ability, he was a guy we looked at when I was at Buffalo coming out of Florida, he made some really wild plays.’’

Daboll said he needs to get to know Toney, but he has no problem with Toney’s music endeavors.

“When you take over a new job and I hope that would be the case for any of us, you get a clean slate,’’ Daboll said. “Everybody’s new, we’re all starting from scratch here. And we’re gonna do this thing together. There will be certain expectations for the people in our building, one being a pro. You can give me 1,000 different definitions of what it means to be a pro. Being on time, working hard, all the things that we talk about. All these players and all the new coaches, including myself, it’s a clean slate.’’

The Giants were named in the Brian Flores lawsuit against the NFL, claiming that racial discrimination played a part in what Flores described as a “sham’’ interview for the head-coach position. Asked about it Tuesday, GM Joe Schoen referred to the statement the Giants put out after the suit was filed.

“We interviewed six qualified candidates that were diverse and at the end of the day we thought Brian Daboll was the best candidate for our situation,’’ Schoen said.

“I understand the question,’’ Daboll said. “Just right now it’s an ongoing legal process and I’ll just leave it at that.’’

It was Daboll’s intention to retain Patrick Graham as the defensive coordinator, but Graham was hired to fill that role for the Raiders. Daboll then pivoted and hired Wink Martindale after interviewing several candidates.

“Look, I’ve been in this league a long time so there’s a lot of things that happen,’’ Daboll said. “I wish Pat and Pam, his wife, the best of luck and you just roll with the punches. He’s a great person, a great coach, and he’ll do a great job there.’’