NFL Draft Profile: Buffalo Bills Select Utah TE Dalton Kincaid

NFL Draft profile scouting report for Utah TE Dalton Kincaid

Dalton Kincaid
Utah Utes

#86
Pos: TE
Ht: 6035
Wt: 246
Hand: 1028
Arm: 3258
Wing: 7838
40: 4.70
DOB: 10/18/1999
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
High School: Faith Lutheran
Eligibility: 2023

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One Liner:

Kincaid lacks elite agility, burst, play strength, and speed, but his reliable hands, ball skills, savvy route running, improving blocking, and nonexistent fear of contact make him an attractive high-floor player who should hear his name called on the second day of the draft.

Evaluation:

Kincaid uses his excellent ball skills, tracking, and basketball background to turn 50-50 contested catches into 70-30 situations in his favor. He has some of the best hands among all draft-eligible players in the 2023 class. Kincaid is a natural hands catcher who rises above the rim to meet the ball when a defender is in his air space. He displays excellent body control. Utah uses Kincaid as a slot playmaker more than an in-line option, but he’s experienced in both roles. Despite not having high-end play strength, he welcomes and finishes through contact as a ball carrier. Defenders bounce off the University of San Diego transfer if they don’t wrap up, and they struggle to bring down the former FCS All-American if they attempt to tackle him high. Kincaid uses his understanding of zone and spacing to find open holes. He deploys subtle moves to win the leverage battle as a pass catcher. Kincaid is quick off the line of scrimmage and varies his route tempo to manipulate defenders. He shows quick footwork at the top of his route and maintains speed in and out of breaks. Kincaid plays through contact early in the route and avoids getting bumped off his path. He uses his upper body to create separation and space early in the route. Kincaid doesn’t have much explosiveness or speed in his game, but he can still run by linebackers on seam routes. He’s quick to turn and get his momentum moving vertically after the catch on short to intermediate routes. Kincaid lacks elite acceleration, but it’s sufficient to consistently generate yards after the catch. The fifth-year college star shows high-level effort as a blocker, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. Kincaid shows flashes of landing blocks on the move, ideal hand placement, and driving defenders off the line of scrimmage, but he’s inconsistent in all of these areas. The former two-star recruit seals defenders inside on run blocks and has sufficient horizontal footwork, but his pad level is a constant concern. Kincaid usually loses the leverage battle, and his lower body is a little lean to handle a heavy workload as a blocker. The tight end displays some stiffness in his hips, which also shows up when he doesn’t sink much at the top of routes and in his lack of elusiveness. His frame is close to maxed out, making it unlikely he’ll get significantly stronger in the NFL. Kincaid’s angles to blocks need to improve, and his block framing must become more consistent. He lacks long speed and isn’t an explosive or twitchy athlete. Kincaid doesn’t have the lower body fluidity to make defenders miss in open space. He struggles to separate against defensive backs, but his contested catch skills bail him out when he’s matched up with smaller players. Kincaid possesses limited ability to threaten defenses vertically. His release includes several false horizontal steps when he’s pressed. Kincaid’s release package currently lacks versatility. Utah rarely asks him to block in pass protection, and teams should be cautious about using him in that role at the next level.

Grade:

3rd Round

Quotes:

“If I was a defensive coordinator, that [stopping Kincaid] would be a primary objective if you look at your tape, particularly our last game [against USC] and saw what he was able to accomplish and do something to say, ‘Hey, if you’re gonna beat us, it’s going to be something other than the tight end catching 16 balls.’ We’ll see what they [Washington State] have in mind, but Dalton is a real talented kid. I don’t know if you can completely take him out of the game, but I’m sure they’ll try to slow him down.” -- Utah HC Kyle Whittingham on TE Dalton Kincaid

Background:

Kincaid was a two-star recruit from Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, Nev. in the class of 2018. He did not receive a star or recruit ranking from 247Sports, On3.com, or ESPN. Kincaid was an unranked two-star recruit for Rivals. He only played one year of football in high school but earned All-State and All-Conference honors. According to MaxPreps, Kincaid made 37 receptions for 745 yards and eight touchdowns as a high school senior. He also earned a varsity letter in basketball in 2017, averaging 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. Kincaid transferred from the University of San Diego to Utah for the 2020 season. He has two older siblings. Kincaid earned Second-Team All-Pioneer Football League and Third-Team FCS All-America (Associated Press) honors in 2019. He was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention in 2021.