The Bills’ 2023 first round draft pick said this offseason has been a lot of fun
On Tuesday, Dalton Kincaid, the Buffalo Bills 2023 first round draft pick, spoke to the media about the changes to this year’s offense and how he has grown as a player from his first camp with the Bills to his second.
“Obviously the room looks a lot different this year,” the tight end said when asked about the offense and addressing the obvious — that the Bills did an (almost) complete overhaul of the wide receiver room. “Just a lot of selfless guys. I feel like that transition has gone really well.”
Kincaid said that the “new guys” were blending in and “meshing good” with the remaining members of last year’s offense and that everyone was buying in to the culture that head coach Sean McDermott has meticulously built over the past seven years.
When asked about the new focus under offensive coordinator Joe Brady who is in his first offseason in the role he was given in Week 11 last year, Kincaid, said that he likes the “spread the ball around” approach and responded to whether he thought he would be a primary target now that Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis departed Buffalo.
“I wouldn’t say I’m the guy. I think we have quite a bit of weapons on offense,” he said. “You know, we’re going to open everybody up, and with Josh back there, he’s going to get everybody the ball. I think definitely a couple more targets this year, which will be nice.”
Asked specifically about what changed after Brady took over the offense in November, Kincaid said that it was a mental change more than anything.
“Joe’s been awesome in terms of his mentality and his energy every day,” he responded. “It’s contagious. As an offense as a whole, I think we all feel that.”
The second-year tight end did admit that the playbook has changed this season and that having almost all of the offense at OTAs is helpful in implementing it quickly.
“I wouldn’t say [it changed] a ton, but there’s a lot of tweaks we’ve made since last year,” Kincaid said. “I think the creativity and kind of freedom he has right now in terms of just testing things out is super helpful.”
Kincaid said he could see the confidence and comfort that Brady was developing in terms of calling plays and creating a playbook around the players he has available rather than trying to fit the pieces he has into an already set plan.
As for Kincaid himself, he said that this year’s offseason is different than last on a personal level due to his own availability.
“Last offseason, I didn’t really get to train much until I got here for OTAs because I was hurt,” he said. “I don’t want to say it’s been more fun, but just being able to participate in workouts and stuff in February and March, I feel a lot better.”
He said that being back with the team’s strength and conditioning staff has, in fact, been fun.
“You know we compete in the weight room, we compete out here,” he said. “As a competitive person, it’s fun to be surrounded by people who are pushing to be better. But I definitely think there’s a difference in terms of this year and last year.”
Kincaid said that there was a big emphasis on him getting stronger over the offseason and changing his diet was as much a part of that as being in the weight room. He also said that he has focused on getting better against both press and man defenses.
“Especially guys coming up and trying to press you, slow you off, and kind of throw off your rhythm and routes,” he spoke about the biggest changes he needed to make from his rookie season to his sophomore.
Before the media session ended, Kincaid was asked about embracing the “everybody eats” mindset of Brady’s offense with his new role as a leader, but the tight end handled the question with class.
“It’s just the culture of this team. It’s just a lot of selfless guys who just want to win,” he answered. “That comes with, you know, just doing whatever is asked of you to help the team win.”