There's a reason behind why Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney has been such an ace for the Hurricanes offense. A lot of it lies within just how focused he is... and that focus is not random or a coincidence.
His mother, Toni Toney, recently opened up in an interview with Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, about Toney's childhood and some of the traits he displayed off the field that make him as special as he is. Weirdly enough, it has everything to do with art, and not much of anything to do with football at all.
However, the two are completely connected, and that artistic ability is one that he still possesses, and in which ties perfectly to the sport.
“He could always draw very well,” she said. “He still does. He sketches anything that comes to his mind."
From a football perspective, really getting into the nitty gritty, Toney had been commended for a number of things, both from a tangibles and an intangibles perspective. Spatial awareness, a highly nuanced route-running ability, agility and pure football IQ are all among those. Nearly all of those, especially the latter, could be tied to his sketchbook talent, which may be equally as good as his on-the-field performance.
Asked Malachi Toney's mom about her son's uncanny focus and attention to detail. She mentioned his artistic nature: “He could always draw very well. He sketches anything that comes to his mind.”
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) May 29, 2026
Her son’s gifts, connecting his sketchbooks to his highlight reel, are probably no…
Miami offensive coordinator Shane Dawson can see where there would be a perfect correlation.
“That makes complete sense,” Dawson said to Feldman after hearing about the statements from Toney's mother.
Dawson sees his talents in action all the time on the practice field and in live action during games.
“Mali has this innate ability, maybe it’s because he’s an artist and obsesses about those details that other receivers don’t obsess about. He views receiver play through the lens of a quarterback," Dawson continued. "He always has a good understanding of the timing.”
Miami WR Malachi Toney prepares for another huge year with the Hurricanes in 2026
And Toney's work doesn't just show up on the film (although that's the most important thing in all of this). It shows up just as loudly on the stat sheet. The wideout set a single-season record for 109 catches last season. As Feldman notes in his article, a lot of those came on option routes, in which Toney often showcases the very best of his already superior route-running ability. Dawson says he believes somewhere between 30 and 40 of Toney's catches, to be precise, came on that route.
Looking at the entirety of his statistics, in addition to those 109 catches, Toney finished out the 2026 season with 1,211 receiving yards, averaging 11.1 yards per grab. He also had 10 touchdowns through the air, with his longest reception totaling some 61 yards.
He was very minimally active in the ground game as well, carrying the ball 23 times for 113 yards and one touchdown. How Toney improves on all of this should be very exciting for Miami fans to watch, especially given just how much he outperformed many of the most veteran receivers in the NCAA in his first year of college football.
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