Todd McShay opines on whether Michael Mayer, Dalton Kincaid will be first tight end selected

When it comes to who will be the first tight end taken in the 2023 NFL Draft, there’s some debate over whether Notre Dame‘s Michael Mayer or Utah‘s Dalton Kincaid will end up off the board first.

Both had terrific college careers, but ESPN NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay knows which player he’d pick.

“It’s difficult because Michael Mayer is a more complete player,” McShay said. “He can play in-line and he’s like a sixth offensive lineman, an extension of your offensive line. He can play flexed out. He can play out wide. He’s shown all of that on tape. He has phenomenal hands. He understands how to utilize his body to shield defenders and he’s a bulldozer after the catch.

“But what he isn’t is what Dalton Kincaid is, and that is a seam-stretcher, a difference-maker both vertically and after the catch. He’s just a better athlete, plain and simple. In a league where you’re looking for matchup pieces, Kincaid gives you a lot more of that, although he’s not nearly as good as Mayer is as a blocker. But for most teams that doesn’t matter as much as just getting an impact player at that spot.”

Both players had excellent careers in college.

Michael Mayer topped 800 yards receiving in both 2022 and 2021, totaling 180 catches for 2,099 yards and 18 touchdowns in three seasons with the Fighting Irish.

Dalton Kincaid, meanwhile, had production spanning five seasons. He was a touchdown machine. In five seasons, Kincaid racked up 175 catches for 2,623 yards and 35 touchdowns.

The differences in size and style of play make for an interesting comparison when it comes to the 2023 NFL Draft.

The two may well end up on the board for different teams altogether.

In any case, McShay also raised another good point. It’s a very deep tight end class, to the point that after Michael Mayer and Dalton Kincaid go there will still be plenty of quality options left on the board.

“The other thing that’s interesting, too, Mel (Kiper), with so many great tight ends, I mean I’ve got six in the top 50 right now, it goes beyond Mayer, it goes into Luke Musgrave from Oregon State, we’ve talked about Sam LaPorta from Iowa, Brenton Strange from Penn State,” McShay said.

“There are so many talented tight ends it’ll be interesting. I thought about putting Kincaid at 14 to the Patriots after the back injury’s been cleared. He met with the Patriots last week. But I wonder if teams will be a little bit hesitant and say we can wait a little bit on tight end because, yeah, it would be great to have Kincaid or Mayer, but we’re going to get a really good one in the second or third round.”