Utah Tight End Dalton Kincaid Has Good Hands

Dalton Kincaid has come up in the first-round conversation for the 2023 NFL Draft.

This fifth-year senior tight end (TE) has practically doubled his number of receptions (66) in 2022 compared to 2021 (36).

However, when going back to watching him off of his 2021 game film, nothing jumped off the screen.

He certainly isn’t first-round material, despite hearing his name from time to time.

Kincaid is a receiving tight end

He certainly isn’t a complete tight end.

Yes, he is in the game a lot on running plays and he gives it his all, but he is not what any team in the NFL would want in a blocking tight end.

Kincaid is on the leaner side and he lacks playing strength.

Sure, he pushes, shoves, gets in the way and does what he can to block.

I credit his effort, but he is way below average when it comes to holding the point of attack.

He’s a one-dimensional receiving tight-end with one big limitation.

Trouble creating separation

His best routes are mostly in the short-level range, and it’s not a given that he can get enough separation then.

However, this is his best bet.

While Kincaid looks good coming out of the gates when the ball is snapped, and he gets going quickly, he doesn’t create much (if any) separation down the seams.

He also couldn’t create separation deeper down the right sideline.

Kincaid has decent, not good, and not great flexibility to change direction at the route break points.

He didn’t look special at the college level.

The chances he will be special at a higher level of competition are not good.

Let me clarify – – he will not be special in the NFL.

You’re in good hands

Yes, that’s the tagline for Allstate Insurance (I worked as an insurance agent at Allstate right before I got my internship with Tony Dungy at the Vikings).

It also applies to Kincaid.

The thing that jumped out to me about Kincaid were his hands.

Kincaid reaches up and plucks the ball out of the sky confidently, and he is able to secure those tricky fingertip catches that aren’t exactly thrown on target.

Decent at YAC

That abbreviation is one of the most important abbreviations when it comes to moving the ball on offense.

It stands for “Yards After Catch,” and it’s something NFL teams covet.

They want guys who can not only catch the ball, but guys who can extend plays with their feet.

Kincaid is decent at it.

He will run until a defender can stop him and look pretty good doing it.

NFL projection

I can see Kincaid has a solid No. 2 or No. 3 tight end on an NFL roster.

He lacks the necessary dominant physical traits to be a good starter.

Without the speed and/or elite athletic ability, it is tough to be different than the other countless receiving tight ends out there looking for a job.

#86 Dalton Kincaid 6-foot-4, 240 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s Grade: Fourth-Round – Fall 2022 Report

First Round Mock Big Board: TBD

Projected by 2.5% of the NFL Draft Community to be a first-round pick as of November 28, 2022 (nflmockdraftdatabase.com)

2021 game film: Oregon, USC and UCLA (click to view games watched to form this evaluation)

2021 stats: 36 receptions (42 targets), 510 yards (14.2 avg.), 8 TD, 43-long

NFL comparable: John Spagnola

2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report:

Lean receiving tight end with excellent hands, decent athletic ability, and decent football-playing speed. Mostly runs shorter in and out routes. Gets going down the seams. Can get knocked off a route. Very inconsistent at creating separation against defenders across the boards at all three route levels. Not crisp looking at the breakpoints. Has to break down just a little. Confident and dependable hands. Works at run blocking, but he is a marginal run blocker who gets by positional blocking and based on effort. Lacks playing strength and girth. Decent value pick who will come in and give it his all.

What to watch for during the 2022 college football season:

1. Does he consistently create separation on routes at all three route levels?
2. How does he look at the intermediate and deep route levels?
3. Consistently sustaining run blocks?
4. Final stat-line from this season.

Kincaid will make a solid role player in the NFL.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He currently writes for Sports Illustrated New York Jets and he is the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. He can be followed on Twitter @firstroundmock.