Dalton Kincaid- why so underwhelming this season?

[Tommy]

He played a good portion of the season with a torn PCL in one knee and fluid in the other knee. Let's see what he can do next season when he comes back fully healthy.

[SirAndrew]

Kincaid isn’t impressive physically compared to upper tier players. He was supposed to be a top notch player, but looks more like the typical “lunch box” guy. Kincaid doesn’t display enough speed, power, or strength to be an elite tight end imo. I was really excited about the Kincaid pick, but was immediately disappointed with what we saw early on. He always looked weak, with no run after the catch ability, and didn’t look like a big play threat. Kincaid might be one of those guys who was just better than everyone in college, but he doesn’t have enough to be a great pro. 

[Don Otreply]

On 1/20/2025 at 9:10 AM, 947 said:

We only threw 22 times, and the Ravens flooded the middle of the field to take that away. I'd have liked to see Kincaid run some seams, but I think better days are ahead for him.

Agree, smart defenses do flood the middle of the field, they all know this causes our offense some problems, imo, everyone eats is fine, but Brady / Allen need to feed two or three guys more than everyone else, and one of those needs to be a down field threat, maybe that will become Cooper if his wrist heals completely, and he learns what our offense does, outside of him I don’t see that guy on our roster, 

[Beck Water]

On 1/27/2025 at 3:23 PM, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah it's like I said earlier, that play encapsulates everything about his underwhelming play this year - poor understanding of zone spacing, poor body positioning, and finally a drop. He did everything wrong on this play.

 

It turns out there's a reason we didn't get him involved a lot this year and it isn't because Brady doesnt know how to use him or because Allen just happens to be randomly less accurate when throwing in his direction - he just flat out hasn't been good enough.

 

If I'm the Bills I'm walking into the offseason with the assumption that Kincaid and Coleman are both busts, and I'd make my draft and FA decisions accordingly. If one or both of them take a big step in their development, great that is found money. But I'd assume the worst and plan from there.

 

 

I understand why you're saying that last.  And I would say that the Bills should go into the season with the assumption they still need serious help at WR in FA and/or the draft - whether or not they think those guys are busts.

Unfortunately, Beane and the Bills draft history say they are usually slow to pull the plug on their top-3-round picks if they show Something, Anything - flashes, occasional good game. 

Boogie Basham is the only one I can think of where the Bills moved on before the start of his 3rd season; Zack Moss would be another, moved on partway through his 3rd season, and I think that would be because he went to Beane and expressed unhappiness. 

We hung onto Cody Ford, to our detriment, for 3 full seasons.

 

But I think both Coleman and Kincaid showed more flashes than any of those guys, so I'm thinking Coleman will get 3 full seasons to show what he's got, and so will Kincaid.

 

It'll be interesting to see what the Bills do with Kaiir Elam, going into his 3rd season. 

 

 

 

 

 

[stuvian]

Part of the answer lies in our switch to a run first offense 

[Beck Water]

5 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

Agree, smart defenses do flood the middle of the field, they all know this causes our offense some problems, imo, everyone eats is fine, but Brady / Allen need to feed two or three guys more than everyone else, and one of those needs to be a down field threat, maybe that will become Cooper if his wrist heals completely, and he learns what our offense does, outside of him I don’t see that guy on our roster, 

 

Cooper is going to be 31, and I think it's possible he just doesn't have the speed or the durability any more.

[Don Otreply]

1 minute ago, Beck Water said:

 

Cooper is going to be 31, and I think it's possible he just doesn't have the speed or the durability any more.

Could very well be the case, considering that, the reviver we need isn’t on our roster, and we really do need to acquire that guy, 

[Magox]

He'll rebound next year.

 

For whatever reason, there were many times that he was open and Allen and he couldn't quite connect cleanly that led to incompletions. I fully expect he and Allen to look to correct that this off season, plus Kincaid will be healthy.   I'm fully expecting a very productive and impactful Kincaid for 2025.

[NewEra]

Underwhelming?  I heard he was way better than Bowers and Laporta 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Poor Kincaid. Not gonna lie,  I got a chuckle out his part.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 01:52 AM by Buffalo_Stampede

[Straight Hucklebuck]

Yeah - I think with Kincaid what we’re seeing is a guy we wish was 1-2 inches taller, 10-pounds heavier, ran in the 4.60’s instead of the 4.70’s and was stronger. 
 

He did none of that testing because of a back injury.

 

His athleticism just doesn’t set him apart in a meaningful way.

 

The Bills are paying Dawson Knox $14.8M dollars in 2025 and he’s in a timeshare with Kincaid. Thats glaringly inefficient use of positional value. 

 

I’ve said it in other threads, I think the Bills should get out of the Kincaid business now and trade him while he still has term and youth on his side.

 

Beane drafted a 24-year old rookie. He’ll be 26 next season and IMO is unlikely to significantly improve stylistically from what he is now - namely a possession tight end. 

 

Allen gets the blame for the missed throws to Kincaid down the field, but what if the player was a tick faster? 
 

At the end of his rookie deal he’d be 29-years old needing a new contract. Avoid all of that now because I do not want the Bills to pick up his 5th-year option.

Whatever the Bills thought they were getting with the 12-personnel option has not manifested. And Beane himself said Knox is everything they want in a Tight End already in terms of size, strength (said this in direct comparison to Kincaid), leadership. And he’s in his prime right now. 

 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

On 2/7/2025 at 3:51 PM, SirAndrew said:

Kincaid isn’t impressive physically compared to upper tier players. He was supposed to be a top notch player, but looks more like the typical “lunch box” guy. Kincaid doesn’t display enough speed, power, or strength to be an elite tight end imo. I was really excited about the Kincaid pick, but was immediately disappointed with what we saw early on. He always looked weak, with no run after the catch ability, and didn’t look like a big play threat. Kincaid might be one of those guys who was just better than everyone in college, but he doesn’t have enough to be a great pro. 

Nailed it.

 

Example was him not fighting hard enough to get that 3rd-2 against the Chiefs.

 

Allowed himself to get tackled short of the mark. 

[billsfan89]

On 2/7/2025 at 4:02 PM, Magox said:

He'll rebound next year.

 

For whatever reason, there were many times that he was open and Allen and he couldn't quite connect cleanly that led to incompletions. I fully expect he and Allen to look to correct that this off season, plus Kincaid will be healthy.   I'm fully expecting a very productive and impactful Kincaid for 2025.

 

I think it was just the injury that resulted in a dip in production and efficiency. Even despite the injury he was still productive. I think Kincaid will have a nice bounce back season in 2025, I think he's a quality TE top 5-7 in my opinion. 

[ColoradoBills]

Dalton Kincaid needs to get healthy, put a lot of time into the weight room and get a meaner attitude.

His teammates need to support him in these efforts, and he needs to realize that with his 1st round status comes a responsibility to his team.

 

He can turn this around.

[JohnNord]

1 hour ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Yeah - I think with Kincaid what we’re seeing is a guy we wish was 1-2 inches taller, 10-pounds heavier, ran in the 4.60’s instead of the 4.70’s and was stronger. 
 

He did none of that testing because of a back injury.

 

His athleticism just doesn’t set him apart in a meaningful way.

 

The Bills are paying Dawson Knox $14.8M dollars in 2025 and he’s in a timeshare with Kincaid. Thats glaringly inefficient use of positional value. 

 

I’ve said it in other threads, I think the Bills should get out of the Kincaid business now and trade him while he still has term and youth on his side.

 

Beane drafted a 24-year old rookie. He’ll be 26 next season and IMO is unlikely to significantly improve stylistically from what he is now - namely a possession tight end. 

 

Allen gets the blame for the missed throws to Kincaid down the field, but what if the player was a tick faster? 
 

At the end of his rookie deal he’d be 29-years old needing a new contract. Avoid all of that now because I do not want the Bills to pick up his 5th-year option.

Whatever the Bills thought they were getting with the 12-personnel option has not manifested. And Beane himself said Knox is everything they want in a Tight End already in terms of size, strength (said this in direct comparison to Kincaid), leadership. And he’s in his prime right now. 

 

I agree.  He was drafted to run Ken Dorsey’s pipe dream of 12 personnel but I don’t really think he’s a great fit for Brady’s offense.  
 

His blocking is a huge problem, as he has been a liability when called upon. It’s not just blocking as a TE in line, he also struggles when split out wide.  There was a screen against KC last week where Cooper got tackled because Kincaid was rocked by a DB.  
As a WR Mack Hollins has been a more reliable blocker out wide and even as a TE.  

 

Aside from this, he doesn’t really do a ton with the ball in his hands and he has not been the “sure handed” player he was touted as.  
 

I don’t have a ton of faith in Kincaid breaking out in year 3 like other fans do.  I think we’ve seen the type of player he is.  I think we’ll see another 40 catch season with about 9-10 yards reception.  That’s fine but the return is a far cry for what they traded to get him. 

 

[FireChans]

2 hours ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

 

Yeah - I think with Kincaid what we’re seeing is a guy we wish was 1-2 inches taller, 10-pounds heavier, ran in the 4.60’s instead of the 4.70’s and was stronger

 

 

[finn]

17 minutes ago, FireChans said:

 

You mean LaPorta, whom Beane could have taken (and saved a fourth round pick) instead of Kincaid? 6'3 245 Ibs, 4.59 40? Not taller, but bigger, faster, and stronger. And better. 

[Charles Romes]

I thought he did exhibit elite hands and body control his rookie year. He just looked a notch above what you will find outside of a very high pick. But he took an absolute beating his rookie year and that has continued. Now I’m thinking he is hearing footsteps and has taken one too many hits.  

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

I’m getting aggravated with hearing people complain about ANYONE on the offense. The offense was elite. All time balance and scored at will. Every single problem was on defense. I don’t care who it is. If you are on offense…back off. They were part of something amazing. Every complaint should be directed towards the problem:

 

Mcdermott

the DC

The defense 

STs

 

Thats the list 

[L Ron Burgundy]

34 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

I’m getting aggravated with hearing people complain about ANYONE on the offense. The offense was elite. All time balance and scored at will. Every single problem was on defense. I don’t care who it is. If you are on offense…back off. They were part of something amazing. Every complaint should be directed towards the problem:

 

Mcdermott

the DC

The defense 

STs

 

Thats the list 

I agree but we should still look to improve where we can.  Imo maybe one wr that can play outside and separate.   Otherwise yes, fix the defense.