The worst pick the Dallas Cowboys can make (2023 draft staff picks)
By Reid Hanson
Dan’s Pick: Dallas Cowboys select TE Dalton Kincaid
Nightmare scenarios for me tend to lean toward two positions more than anything else, tight end and running back. Before everyone jumps on me about this, the reasoning about running back stems from the studies that have been done over the past decade or so about the value of the position.
What has been discovered is that when looking at EPA and durability running back just is not the position it once was in the eyes of the league as whole. Speaking about tight ends, the return for a first-round tight end has been a bit questionable when compared to the overall position throughout the league.
So, for this draft, tight end may be the one position I would not want more than a running back. That list to me starts with Dalton Kincaid.
The concerns with Kincaid start with his back injury and continue into his overall profile. Back injuries do not get better, I speak on personal experience here. The position of tight end in the NFL is asked to do quite a bit of blocking, and the people a player is tasked to block in the NFL are stronger, faster, and more consistent than in college.
That is a lot of punishment for Kincaid’s back, and he was not the best blocker to begin with. While he made plays in the receiving game in college, I am not sure he will translate well with the back injury, some size concerns, and less than technical route running. There is no doubt Kincaid has some athleticism, but how it will translate does concern me within the full picture.
While I have some concerns with other tight ends as well, Kincaid’s back puts him squarely at the top of the list for me. Yes, the Dallas Cowboys could look at the position, but this draft is fairly deep at the position so missing one in the first would not be a terrible miss overall. Injuries are always a worry, but a back injury can be a huge issue both in the short and long term.
This and this alone puts Kincaid at the top of my nightmare scenario for the Dallas Cowboys.