2023 NFL Draft preview: Scouting report on Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid

We have heavily discussed the Seattle Seahawks need for a pass catcher in the draft. The wide receiver class is deep and could be the source for that. But the tight end class is even stronger and one of the best in recent memory. There are multiple high-end tight ends available in this class, one of whom we have already covered. In this article we are going to evaluate another one in Utah’s Dalton Kincaid.

Games watched - 2022 Oregon, UCLA, both USC games

Previous tight end reports - Michael Mayer

Relative Athletic Score

Strengths

• Biggest strength - Hands - Kincaid is able to pluck balls out of the air with relative ease no matter his body positioning or the ball placement. He can easily make catches through contact no matter how far away his hands are from his body. Kincaid has receiver-like body control when contorting his body to make a catch near the sideline. He is able to get his body turned 180 degrees to find the ball in midair and bring it down before going out of bounds. He does a great job at high pointing the ball, not letting it travel down unless absolutely necessary.

• With the ball in his hands, Kincaid is also more wide receiver than tight end. He has a quick burst that he shows off immediately after getting the catch whether he has to turn up field or is getting it in stride down field.
• He has good (6) long-speed allowing him to maintain large yards after catch plays rather than only picking up a few due to his burst.
• Kincaid is able to make defenders miss with juke moves as he is not a straight-line runner. Kincaid also brings a physical edge with the ball in his hands. He is to consistently run through defenders whilst forcing defenders to swarm him when he has the ball. Kincaid often requires two or three defenders to bring him down, but no matter what he is always going to fall forward.
• He has good (6) contact balance as he is able to bounce off defenders and maintain his play speed and center of gravity.
• On third downs, Kincaid has a great sense of where the first down markers are situating himself slightly past the line to gain. This allows him to still come back for the ball if necessary whilst still being able to pick up the first down.
• Kincaid is extremely versatile as he can be used as an “X” receiver, in the slot and as an end line tight end.
• Kincaid has a good understanding of zone coverage especially on hook and hitch routes, finding the exact spot to sit it down and protect himself.

Weaknesses

• Biggest weakness - Run blocking - Surprisingly I cannot find any videos of Kincaid run blocking on Twitter, so you are going to have to take my word for it. He does not maintain his blocks for very long in the running game, more so getting his body in the way. On inside running plays he often oversets himself to the outside far too much which presents an extremely soft shoulder that defenders are routinely able to attack and exploit. On sift and wham blocks he can drop too far away from the line of scrimmage. This results in defenders being able to beat him to the spot inside and making a play on the ball carrier.
• He was a little slow out of his stance when an end line tight end in the passing game.
• He is not a bad route runner by any means grading out as sufficient for me (5), but he was not able to create natural separation with his route running ability.
• Kincaid’s release was sufficient (5) as he did not show case any type of rhythm step or quick get off, off of the line.

Floor/ceiling - Kincaid’s mixture of very good hands, large catching radius, good play speed, burst, mismatch ability and FBI give him the ceiling of a solid starter. However, his struggles in run blocking and sufficient (5) release gives him the floor of a low end starting tight end.

Grade - 6.6 - Low end starter first day of second season - Round - Late 1st early 2nd

Grade explanation - The reason Kincaid is a 6.6 and a low-end starter is because of his impact in the running game. As a pure receiver, he is a solid starter and extremely impactful. But, in order to receive a base grade of 6.7 or higher as a tight end you have to be considered a “complete tight end” which at this point in his career, he is not. Wherever he goes he is going to be impactful in the passing game. He gives off Travis Kelce vibes, but I cannot grade him higher, even though I want to because of how good of a pass catcher he is.

Schematic fit - Kincaid projects best as a low end starting move tight end in a pass heavy system. He can be used anywhere out wide, in the slot and as an end line tight end as well but his struggles in run blocking will be prevalent when lined up here. He will be a massive weapon in the red zone as well as on third down.

Player highlights