NFL Draft: Giants second-round pick Wan'Dale Robinson similar to fellow WR Kadarius Toney

The Giants took a somewhat undersized wide receiver from the SEC who can play multiple positions, create athletic mismatches, make eye-popping plays with the ball in his hands, and add an element of versatility and creativity to their offense.

Again.

If Wan’Dale Robinson, the player the Giants selected with the 43rd overall pick in the second round of the NFL Draft on Friday night, sounds a lot like Kadarius Toney, the player they selected in the first round of last year’s festivities, well, that may be on purpose. General manager Joe Schoen, after trading back twice from his original slot at 36th overall, had no qualms about the apparent duplication of skill sets.

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked when the similarities were noted. “We’ll take as many of those guys as we can on the field.”

And yes, Schoen seemed to indicate, they will be on the field together.

Despite some recent friction between Toney and the organization over his absence from the early stages of the voluntary offseason program and voluntary minicamp, Schoen was insistent that he was and is “not shopping” Toney in a trade. He did not go so far as to say he would not listen to offers from other teams for Toney, but it appears whatever rift there was has disappeared.

Coach Brian Daboll also was quick to point out that Toney had joined the team for workouts this past week.

“He had a good week,” Daboll said. “It was good to see him . . . He’s chugging along.”

The trades the Giants did make brought them back to the middle of the second round and landed them two extra players later in the draft. They swapped picks with the Jets, moving from 36th to 38th and adding a fifth-rounder (146th overall). Then they used that 38th pick to trade with the Falcons and move to 43rd while adding a fourth-rounder (114th overall). The moves give the Giants 11 total picks in this draft.

In the third round, they took North Carolina offensive lineman Josh Ezeudu with the 67th overall pick and LSU cornerback Cor’Dale Flott with the 81st pick late Friday night.

“More picks would benefit us the most, we thought, based on who was on our board,” Schoen said, noting that the trades were shaped — and in the case of the one with the Jets finalized — during the day on Friday before the second round began.

One of the players the Giants likely hoped still would be there at 43 was Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth, but the Vikings traded up with the Colts to leapfrog the Giants for that position of need. The Giants then selected Robinson.

“With what we’re trying to generate offensively, we thought he would be a very good fit for us,” Schoen said. “He’s a generator when the ball in his hands. He has run after catch [skills] and can separate from DBs and get open. He played some running back at Nebraska. This is a versatile piece you can use in your offense.”

Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka certainly have experience with players of such skill . . . and size. Robinson’s 5-8 and 178-pound frame measured at the NFL Combine was of no concern to them.

“He’s tough for a smaller guy,” Daboll said. “I’ve coached a lot of small guys. Deion Branch, Super Bowl MVP. Isaiah McKenzie last year.”

Said Schoen: “If you look at Daboll’s past or Kafka’s past [in Kansas City] in terms of the creativity of their offense and the weapons they can utilize, I think you can see what the vision may look like.”

Robinson said he tries to model his game after many receivers, rattling off many of the top players in the sport. He also acknowledged that there are in fact those overlaps with Toney.

“I think we probably do some things that are similar,” Robinson said. “But at the end of the day we’re just playmakers, I think.”

And no, Joe Schoen, there is nothing bad about that.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.