Back in April, the Buffalo Bills selected Dalton Kincaid, the tight end out of Utah, with the 25th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Although not necessarily a bad pick, many questioned it due to how the roster currently sat.
Kincaid was a highly valued tight end prospect leading up to the draft. He is excellent in one-on-ones and in the seam, with a great sense of how to high-point footballs. He also reads opposing secondaries well getting himself open into the field. It is simple to see why the Bills drafted him in general.
Buffalo already had Dawson Knox, a career veteran for the Bills, and is pretty well acclimated to the culture and offense under head coach Sean McDermott. He has close to 2,000 career yards and 20+ receiving touchdowns.
However, Kincaid has come in and found a fit through his first five games in the national football league. Quarterback Josh Allen has targeted the rookie 19 times and Kincaid has brought in 17 of them for catches. He has 118 yards and is averaging seven yards per reception. Kincaid has yet to get his first career touchdown grab. He had eight in his final season with the Utah Utes.
Kincaid's two quietest games were last week in the loss to Jacksonville and week three against the Washington Commanders. He combined for just 22 yards in those two games but had only a combined 4 targets. In his better games, Kincaid has been targeted at a higher rate with at least four targets for a minimum of 25 yards in the other three games the Bills have played this season.
Moral of the story: It seems that Kincaid gets more comfortable when he gets the ball thrown toward him more.
Overall, the production has been there for the most part for Kincaid. He also has not taken away from Knox's catches either. At this point in the season, Knox has 75 yards and a touchdown grab against the Raiders in week two. Knox also has the exact same yards per catch average as Kincaid.
The Buffalo first-rounder has not taken anything away from the tight end group. If anything, he has strengthened it.