Utah’s Dalton Kincaid Not TE #1 in Buffalo?
Few teams utilized the tight end position like the Buffalo Bills did last year.
Dawson Knox in his 5th year came into the 2023 season as the expected starter with 149 receptions and 20 touchdowns to his name.
Buffalo had also selected Utah Ute, Dalton Kincaid, 25th overall in the first round making the tight end room quite the spectacle.
The 2023 season rolled on and Buffalo’s two talented tight ends would experience a dual effort.
7 games into the season, Knox had 28 targets, 15 receptions, 102 yards and a touchdown.
The rookie, Kincaid, had 27 targets, 25 receptions, 193 yards and had yet to find his first professional trip to the end zone.
Kincaid had played only six games compared to Knox’s 7 which made the rookies output all the more impressive compared to his veteran counterpart.
In October, sometime after week 7, Dawson Knox was placed on injured reserve after needing wrist surgery, which would effectively put the TE spotlight solely on Dalton Kincaid.
In the 5 games with Knox sidelined, Kincaid would flash that first round talent by forming a solid connection with Bills QB Josh Allen.
Weeks 8-12 saw Kincaid rip down 31 receptions while being targeted 37 times.
Those 31 grabs went for 281 yards and two touchdowns.
Even when Knox returned after the Buffalo bye week in early December, it seemed as if Kincaid had become the #1 option from the tight end spot.
Knox and Kincaid would share the field for the final 5 regular season games and two more postseason tilts before the Bills elimination at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs.
In those 7 games Kincaid continued to be that steady pass catching presence totaling 25 receptions on 38 targets for 303 yards and a touchdown.
Dawson Knox would finish that same time span with 11 targets for 9 receptions, 97 yards and two touchdowns himself.
Knox still had a nose for the endzone and had value to provide especially as a blocking tight end, but it felt as if the tide has shifted to Kincaid as the main man.
After all, if you were to look at Buffalo’s leading receivers at the end of the year, Kincaid’s 73 receptions would be 2nd on the team only behind Stefon Diggs.
His 673 yards and 29 first down grabs would be 3rd overall behind Diggs and Gabe Davis.
But “main man” may not be the right terminology here, even after an impressive rookie season.
As we approach the 2024 season via training camp, reports indicate that it may not be as simple as Kincaid or Knox as the starting Tight End.
You see, the main pass catchers next to Knox last season, are no longer in Buffalo.
Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, who accounted for about 40 percent of Buffalo’s catches and almost 52 percent of their receiving touchdowns are now in Houston and Jacksonville.
Their replacements?
Khalil Shakir: 39 receptions, 611 yards, 2 touchdowns last season in Buffalo.
Keon Coleman: 33rd overall pick in the 2024 draft.
Curtis Samuel: 62 receptions, 613 yards, 4 touchdowns last season in Washington.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 21 receptions, 315 yards, 1 touchdown in Kansas City last year.
Chase Claypool: 8 receptions, 77 yards, 1 touchdown last season with Chicago and Miami.
Mack Hollins: 18 receptions, 251 yards 0 touchdowns last year in Atlanta.
Buffalo filled the physical void by adding bodies galore in free agency and drafting a high potential player, but none of these guys are likely to replace the production that a Stefon Diggs caliber player brings.
Thus, it’s all hands on deck for the Buffalo Bills.
Catches by committee will be a common theme meaning that the Bills simply cannot afford to put a Knox over Kincaid or a Kincaid over Knox as quite honestly they will need them both.
Kincaid will help fill the void with his abilities as a pass catcher, whereas Knox can fill more of the traditional TE role as blocker and red zone threat.
If the Bills still expect to compete for a championship, both will be essential.
And luckily for Buffalo, both players are impressing early on in camp.
The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia said “Those expecting Kincaid to usurp the full-time role from Dawson Knox this year and push the veteran tight end into a backup may have their hopes dashed.”
Buscaglia mentioned that Kincaid “was also excellent” and that the “potential is definitely there for him to be on of their top targets in 2024.”
That being said one of Joe Buscaglia’s big takeaways was that early in camp, “Both Kincaid and Knox worked heavily with Allen throughout the first practice.”
“Neither player worked in with backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky” per Buscaglia.
All signs early in camp seem to demonstrate that in Buffalo there may not be such a thing as TE #1 or #2.
Just two great players essential to the Bills success.
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