Medically Cleared, Top Tight End to Visit Packers

Perhaps the best pass-catching tight end in the NFL Draft is set to visit the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Apr 12, 2023 9:09 PM EDT

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Utah’s Dalton Kincaid, the top pass-catching tight end in the 2023 NFL Draft, has been officially cleared from the back injury that sidelined him for the end of his senior season as well as the Scouting Combine.

The Green Bay Packers, who need a tight end, will host Kincaid on a predraft visit on Tuesday, according to a source.

“Dalton Kincaid sustained a back injury while playing football on 11/26/2022,” Dr. Robert Watkins wrote in an e-mail that was posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. “Subsequent MRIs have shown appropriating healing and he has been asymptomatic with no pain and no limitation of function for at least 3 months. He is cleared to play football with no restrictions.”

The announcement from Watkins wasn’t exactly a big deal for teams. Kincaid’s injury didn’t require surgery and he’s been working out for the past few weeks.

“Since I’ve been cleared and been able to do more, it’s deciding if I want to train to run a 40-yard dash or do I want to train to get ready for (training) camp,” Kincaid said after sitting out Utah’s pro day on March 23. “For me, I’m preparing for camp and I want to come in in my best shape for that.”

Teams haven’t been worried. During his predraft tour, his visits have been focused on football and not poking and prodding by team medical staffs.

Kincaid is the personification of late bloomer. He played only one year of high school football so wasn’t on recruiters’ radars. His first taste of college football was at San Diego, a nonscholarship, FCS-level school. He dominated there, so transferred to Utah. During his final seasons, he scored 16 touchdowns.

In 2022, he posted 70 receptions for 890 yards (12.7 average) and eight touchdowns to earn third-team All-American honors. Kincaid had one of the all-time great games by catching all 16 targets vs. USC for 234 yards.

“He’s a guy who just has a knack for catching the ball,” quarterback Cam Rising said after the game. “So, you’ve got to force him the ball in some situations.”

Of 31 tight ends in the draft class to be targeted at least 28 times in the passing game, he ranked second with 2.42 yards per route run and fourth with a drop rate of 2.8 percent, according to Pro Football Focus. Tight ends need to make the tough catches; Kincaid was 9-of-18 in contested-catch situations. First-round tight ends need to make big plays; Kincaid caught 6-of-11 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield.

“When you turn on the tape, there’s not 10 players better than this dude in this draft,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said of during his Move the Sticks podcast last week.

The Packers lost their pass-catching tight end, Robert Tonyan, to the rival Chicago Bears in free agency. Their other veteran tight end, ageless Marcedes Lewis, remains unsigned. A tandem of the potential-packed Kincaid with Lewis serving as the dirty-work mentor, would be an attractive situation for coach Matt LaFleur as he retools the offense with Jordan Love.