The Buffalo Bills had high hopes for tight end Dalton Kincaid when they jumped up the board in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft to land him, and the Utah product showed flashes of greatness in his rookie season.
But injuries and inconsistent play plagued Kincaid in his second season, leading one insider to issue a sharp warning heading into training camp next month. Kam Towle of USA Today’s Bills Wire named Kincaid as the Bills player with the most to prove this season, something the team’s top brass has already pointed out.
Dalton Kincaid’s Drop in 2024
Kincaid had a strong rookie season, making 73 receptions for 673 yards, but suffered what Towle called a “disappointing sophomore campaign.” Kincaid made just 44 receptions for 448 yards and had one of the biggest blunders of the season, dropping a late fourth-down pass from quarterback Josh Allen in the AFC Championship game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Injuries played a big part in the dip in production, but he and quarterback Josh Allen seemed to be out of sync more than the Bills would have liked,” Towle wrote. “He posted just a 58.7% catch percentage in 2024 after catching 80.2% of his targets the year prior.”
Towle added that Kincaid still has time to turn around his NFL career, but will need to prove something in the coming season.
“He still has massive potential as a pass-catching tight end but he hasn’t lived up to that yet,” Towle wrote. “He’s looking for a breakout third year in the NFL to prove he was worthy of his high draft stock and worthy of continuing to be peppered with targets from Allen.”
Bills Already Put Dalton Kincaid on Notice
Bills general manager Brandon Beane made it clear at the conclusion of last season that the team was disappointed in Kincaid’s campaign. Beane said Kincaid âdidnât have the year that he expected or we expected,” noting that injuries played a big part in that.
Beane did blame part of the injuries on Kincaid’s conditioning, saying the tight end will “have to continue to work on his play strength” this offseason. But Beane also made sure to point out that the team isn’t close to giving up on Kincaid just yet.
âWe believe in Dalton and Dalton is a big part in our plans going forward,â Beane said. âNo one in here has lost confidence in him.â
For his part, Allen took the blame for the AFC title game drop, saying he didn’t put Kincaid in a good position to catch the ball. The Bills had been caught unprepared for a blitz on the play, with Allen backpedaling before launching something of a Hail Mary pass toward Kincaid.
âI got to be better for him,â Allen told reporters, via ESPN. âI didnât feel like I put him in enough good situations this year, ball-placement-wise. Even the one last night over the middle â I left it behind him. He can sit there and think about that play over and over, but I got to be better for him.â
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