Utah Utes tight end Dalton Kincaid James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Top TE prospect Dalton Kincaid won't do drills at NFL Combine

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated 2/27/23

Depending on who you talk to, Dalton Kincaid out of Utah is the top tight end available in the 2023 NFL Draft. Notre Dame's Michael Mayer is potentially in that category as well, so it stands to reason that anything that could separate the two will be important in the eyes of evaluators.

Unfortunately for Kincaid, he won't have drills at the 2023 NFL Combine to help him get some distance on Mayer. Mike Garafolo is reporting that Kincaid won't be participating in drills because of a small fracture in his back that he's working on recovering from.

Kincaid’s recovery has been overseen by noted orthopedist Robert Watkins, who determined surgery was not necessary. Kincaid is expecting to be fully cleared in the coming weeks. He will meet with teams this week in Indy but will not do any on-field work.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 27, 2023

Garafolo's second Tweet reveals the silver lining of this week for Kincaid. Though he won't be able to physically show out at the combine, he does have plenty of impressive tape from his past two seasons at Utah. He can now use this time to show teams not just who he is on the field, but who he is as a person.

For as much as NFL teams care about talent, they also care about character, and that's what Kincaid will be able to prove to teams at the combine. He may not be able to work out, but he can still make a good impression — and that could be the difference between Mayer being the first tight end off the board or Kincaid.

Kincaid has caught eight touchdown passes in each of his past two seasons with the Utes. Mayer caught nine in 2022 and seven in 2021.

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