Former Utes tight end Dalton Kincaid drafted by Buffalo Bills with No. 25 pick of NFL draft

SALT LAKE CITY — In the eyes of the collegiate football recruiting world, tight end Dalton Kincaid was a nobody out of high school.

The multi-sport athlete from Las Vegas, whose primary focus was on basketball, enrolled at FCS University of San Diego in a non-scholarship role and played two seasons before he transferred to the University of Utah, with hopes of being a contributing member of a Power Five offense.

It was a decision that paid off immensely for Kincaid and Utah over his three seasons with the program.

And on Thursday night, Kincaid was the first tight end selected in the 2023 NFL draft to the Buffalo Bills with the No. 25 overall pick. From an unranked recruit out of Faith Lutheran High to a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft, Kincaid had quite the rise in a sport he didn't fully embrace until his senior season of high school.

Kincaid was the first player selected by the Bills and is expected to be an immediate contributor to the team in a position group that has become more of a focus in the modern NFL offensive systems. The Bills made a last-minute trade with Jacksonville to jump ahead of the Dallas Cowboys, who were expected to take Kincaid.

"I had some people calling about the pick," Bills general manager Brandon Beane said. "If Dalton was not there, we were going to trade back. But we had a good feeling that Dallas would take him, and we just really liked him and just felt he would be a great fit in our offense.

"I thought he was gonna be gone, get taken, but we were — I called the Giants and they talked about it and then they let me know they were going to trade up. So as soon as I heard that I called Jacksonville, and right away they weren't sure. And they waited till they got on the clock, talked it through and got it done."

The Bills are expected to sign Kincaid to the standard four-year rookie contract, with a projected salary of $13.4 million over the life of his rookie deal, according to Spotrac. The cap for the 2023 season is about $2.4 million for the Las Vegas native.

"It's definitely something that's crazy," Kincaid said at Utah's pro day. "It's a dream come true for me, but just a lot of people who got me here and sacrificed a lot, so I'm very grateful for all those people and just kind of put me in a good position to succeed."

Despite the high draft pick, Kincaid did not participate in any workouts as part of the NFL Combine or Utah's pro day due to his recovery from a serious back injury sustained at the end of the 2022 season, though he was cleared for full activity the Monday before his pro day.

The injury, which he sustained late in the 2022 season, also kept Kincaid out of Utah's Rose Bowl appearance against the Big Ten's Penn State.

But Kincaid's senior season, in which he exploded on the scene against USC and had 16 receptions for 234 yards and finished the season with 890 yards, was enough for the Bills. The tight end quickly rose up the draft board for many NFL teams in the months after his collegiate career ended and was talked about as one of the best prospects of the first round.

Ahead of the draft, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said he viewed Kincaid as a "top 15 pick" in his projections and the top tight end from this year's draft class, beating out Notre Dame's Michael Mayer, Georgia's Darnell Washington, and several other talented tight ends.

"He is awesome," Jeremiah said in a teleconference with media a week before the draft. "Off the line he is awesome at the top of his routes. He can separate. He has great hands. He is competitive after the catch. He can make you miss. I think he is one of the best players in the draft, and everything I was told physically from teams, he came out of (his injury) fine."

Kincaid's former offensive coordinator, Andy Ludwig, said the tight end is a "great fit" for the NFL.

"I know he's a great person, he's a great competitor, his football IQ is off the charts, and you're not going to find body control like that and a frame and his ability to catch contested football, so I'm fired up," Ludwig said. "I'm one of his biggest fans now."

"He's a consummate team-guy," Utah tight end coach Freddie Whittingham added. "Whether he has 70 receptions or 35 receptions, Dalton Kincaid is going to line up and do the right thing every single time.

Kincaid becomes the second player from the University of Utah to be drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in consecutive years. Last April, star linebacker Devin Lloyd was selected with the 27th overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars, making the standout player the highest-ever drafted linebacker in Utah history.

Kincaid, too, becomes the highest-ever drafted tight end from the University of Utah. The previous high was Kurt Haws, who was selected with the 105th pick (fourth round) to Washington in the 1994 NFL draft.

"If I was to go in the first round, I think it would be awesome," Kincaid told media prior to the draft. "I think it would be a great reflection of (Utah's) program. I think that would kind of mean the most to me is it reflecting on coach Fred Whittingham, coach (Kyle) Whittingham and coach Ludwig, and kind of what they've all sacrificed and done to get me in a position. So, I think, if anything, I'd be super grateful to have that opportunity so they kind of carry that with them as well."

Kincaid remained engaged with the Utah football program after his season concluded, even remaining a permanent fixture on campus for spring football and other big events, such as the women's basketball team's run in the NCAA Tournament. Through it all, he remained a strong ambassador to the program who helped him realize his dream of the NFL.

"Well, it's not surprising to me because that's authentically the guy that he is and the guy that he's been here for the three years that he was here," Freddie Whittingham said. "I have a lot of gratitude and appreciation for him that he's doing that; he doesn't have to do that, and a lot of players that leave their college don't do that. But I think he is the type of guy that is very generous with — and sincere with — his gratitude, and I think that that just kind of speaks to the type of person he is."

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