Bills TE Conundrum? Beane Reveals Plans for Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane made sure to address any concerns that Bills Mafia might have over the first-round pick he made on Day 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday.
Beane traded up two spots to select Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid at No. 25, which caused some scattered confusion from fans on social media. The Bills already have a reliable and fan-favorite tight end in Dawson Knox, who has proven to be a key part of the red-zone over the past few seasons.
Of course, no one's arguing that two tight ends can't both have an impact on the field at the same time. But using a first-round pick on a position of non-necessity certainly raises some questions.
Luckily, Beane has the answers.
"He's a tight end, but he's a receiving tight end," Beane said of Kincaid. "We think he'll pair well with Dawson and give us another target. ... He's not your standard Y tight end, he's gonna be flexed out more than necessarily you would do with Dawson."
Adding a new rookie tight end to the fold - especially one that Beane is already admitting will often line up as a receiver - means targets will be taken away somewhere. While talking about the receiving ability of Kincaid, Beane also addressed his need to improve as a blocker, meaning Knox could potentially be left in the role that focuses on blocking and chipping pass rushers due to his experience.
"I don't want to get into the usage part cause this guy's gotta come in here and learn our offense," Beane said of Kincaid. "He'll be a rookie, it's gonna take him time. It's just another weapon for (offensive coordinator Ken) Dorsey."
Regardless, Beane emphasized that Knox will continue to be a big part of the offense and the receiving game, though this is obviously easier said than done when the team just spent a first-round pick on a guy that specializes as a pass-catching threat.
"Dawson's still gonna be very involved," Beane said. " ... Dawson is a clearly better in-line blocker, still a receiving threat. I don't think Dawson's gonna be going anywhere."
To no fault of his own, Knox has understandably had some inconsistent usage in an offense that features some huge mouths to feed like receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. He still managed to catch six touchdowns last year, continuing to prove he's an elite re-zone threat.
But it's hard to see him replicating these numbers next season. At the end of the day though, a true Bill like Know likely hardly cares about his usage as long as the wins stack up.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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