Is Dalton Kincaid already a top 10 NFL tight end? League personnel say yes

There is all the favorable environment for second-year Buffalo Bills’ tight end Dalton Kincaid to emerge as one of leading NFL players at his post in this year.

On the other hand, league brass already regard the former University of Utah star as one of the best at the position, an article by ESPN on Friday showed.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN ranked Kincaid the eighth-best tight end in the league, those rankings calculated off of inside information he got from NFL executives, coaches and scouts.

The five ‘top’ tight ends are actually unsurprising on ESPN: Travis Kelce , KC (1) , George Kittle , San Francisco (2), Mark Andrews, Baltimore (3), Sam LaPorta, Detroit. .also a second year player (4), T. J Hockenson , Minnesota (5).

However, Kincaid is placed lower in another group of relatively good tight ends that are, Cleveland’s David Njoku ranked 6th, Philadelphia’s Dallas Goedert ranked 8th and Jacksonville’s Evan Engram ranked 9th and Houston’s Dalton Schultz, a product of Bingham High School ranked 10th.

Hence, due to the losses of wide receivers Stefon Diggs to Kansas City Chiefs and Gabe Davis to Las Vegas Raiders during the off-season, Kincaid is one of the bill’s top returnee with regards to receiving.

Uncertainty about the Bills’ wide receiving group is arguably one of the biggest narratives around the NFL, which should open the door even more for Kincaid to lock in as a top skill player on the Bills’ offense.

What did ESPN have to say about the ranking of the tight end of the Dalton Kincaid?

Basically, Fowler noted that the rookie Kincaid was compared to Kelce when the later joined the league last year as the NFL draft’s 25th overall choice this year.

‘He’s super natural as a mover, super instinctive, great hands,’ ‘ a high ranking NFL personnel man told Fowler. “ Yea, but not sure he’s as explosive after the catch as some of the other receivers. ”

Fowler also pointed out that Kincaid “led this group in average of yards from the nearest defender when targeted” and that his 4. 40-yard 71-second dash is suitable for a tight end, meanwhile “several scout positively think that he more than that in action. ”

What was the performance rate that the rookie season of Dalton Kincaid recorded?

Kincaid played through the entire 2023 regular season and managed to catch 73 passes for 673 yards and score 2 TDs. While suffering from a bit of a slow start to the year and then missing the Week 6 game against the New York Giants due to a concussion, Kincaid reached four or more receptions nine of the team’s last 11 regular-season matches, accumulating 56 passes for 555 yards and two touchdowns in said matches.

In the playoffs, Kincaid, the tight end, had only two games since the team did not advance to the playoffs, but he had eighty-four receiving yards and one touchdown.

His 80. Higbee’s 2% catch rate on 91 targets during the regular season was 20th in the league, per StatMuse and 4th among TEs but 2nd when limiting to TEs with 50+ receptions.

Taking StatMuse statistics into account, Kincaid was twelfth in end-zone receiving yards among the tight ends of the previous season, and among the same category, his total receptions were seventh, his number of targets was eighth, his receiving yards per game, forty-two point one, placed him fourteenth, while his receiving yards per catch, nine point two, placed him twenty-second.

What others have said about how Dalton Kincaid has placed among the rest of the NFL tight ends?

Another couple of media sources were not as high on Kincaid’s status among tight ends in 2024, but they underscored his clear path to improvement.

Despite this, Kincaid’s play was solid enough for Pro Football Focus’ John Kosko to place the specialist 13th at the position.

“On his own, Kincaid made sure teammate Dawson Knox was barely a blip on the radar, catching for 777 yards on 1. 51 yards per reception on 101 targets,” Kosko said. “Kincaid had an excellent rookie year which was somewhat lost in the glowing reports of LaPorta. ”

PNF’s Dakota Randall has Kincaid ranked as the 18th tight end in NFL play, and again placing him alongside Kelce.

“He might rank top 10 next year, but not because he’s a great all-around tight end. Kincaid is firmly in the Kelce mold: beginning with the receiver then followed by a tight end,” Randall wrote.

“However, he is a youth football player who accumulated 673 yards and 2 TDs in his rookie season which means that the arrow is pointing up. ”

And as for the audacious predictions, RotoBaller’s Mike Fanelli had the bait of the year on Kincaid as the future No. 3 tight end in the NFL heading to 2024.

“The Bills most unexpectedly made a trade during the 2023 NFL Draft to select Kincaid,” Fanelli added that although the player had only two receiving touchdowns as a rookie, he is projected to be a popular breakout star in the second year out of Utah, Overall.

“Buffalo enjoyed the defensively cover of Diggs and Gabe Davis who made switch to Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars respectively, however, there is every likelihood, this Kincaid could take reception test in the NFL top 10 in the next season.

NFL. Agreeing with Brooks was KFFL. com analysts Bucky Brooks, who included Kincaid in a list of the top 10 sleeper prospects for the season.

“If and when Buffalo starts using ‘12’ personnel on a regular basis, Kincaid could easily become known as the over the middle dominating pass catcher The second year pro will of course split that spotlight with fellow tight end Dawson Knox, but the 6-foot-4, 240 pounder should absolutely love the inside out attack that Josh Allen now brings to the table that fully features the Bills TEs,” Brooks said.

“Kincaid took a little bit to get his footing as a rookie, but still finished the season with solid numbers: I’ve gotten them 73 catches for 673 yards and 2 points On the flip side, I think he is going to take a massive leap forward in the upcoming season I wouldn’t be surprised if he finishes as the TE receptions and yards leader in 2024.