The Buffalo Bills have 2 of the NFL’s elite tight ends at the top of the depth chart with Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox, and you can make an argument they can’t win at a high level without them both playing at a high level.
Behind them, though, might be a player willing to do the dirty work at the position that might spare them a few injury dings here or there in 6-foot-7, 249-pound 2nd-year tight end Keleki Latu.
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper singled out Latu as 1 of the NFL’s top “roster bubble” players following the 1st preseason game.
“Latu joined the Bills as an undrafted free agent last season,” Popper wrote on August 18. “He started 2025 on the practice squad before eventually playing in five regular-season games. Latu’s run blocking was exceptional in the Bills’ 29-14 win over the Panthers on Saturday. He had a pancake block in the fourth quarter that spurred a 16-yard run from running back Frank Gore Jr. Latu also had key blocks on two Buffalo touchdown runs in the fourth quarter. He rounded out the performance with four catches for 33 yards in the passing game. Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox and Jackson Hawes are ahead of Latu in the Bills’ tight end room.”
Latu isn’t the only member of his family currently in the NFL — his brother, edge rusher Laiatu Latu, was a 1st-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts in 2024.
Keleki Latu Played for 3 Different Colleges
One red flag when looking for undrafted players is how many colleges they played at — in Latu’s case, that’s a lot.
The Carmichael, California, native started his career with 2 seasons at Cal before spending 1 season at Nevada. He finished his career with 1 season at Washington, where he had career highs of 30 receptions for 471 yards and 1 touchdown on the way to earning All-Big Ten honors.
NFL Draft analyst Lance Zierlein correctly predicted Latu would be a priority free agent before the 2025 draft.
“Latu is a tall tight end who has gained 20-plus pounds since his freshman season, but he still needs to keep getting stronger,” Zierlein wrote. “He’s willing as a blocker and gets into block fits with good positioning and technique. However, he lacks the play strength to compete against an NFL opponent at the point of attack. He has good hands and a wide catch radius but lacks separation quickness underneath and the speed to outrun man coverage in space. Latu is not a clean fit as a Y or an F tight end, which makes his NFL projection challenging.”
Latu has been putting in the work to make himself a formidable blocker — he’s put on 15 pounds of muscle since going undrafted.
Injury Scare for Pro Bowl Tight End
The usage of both Kincaid and Knox — they’re both favorite targets of quarterback Josh Allen — opens them up to more injuries. That’s all the more reason to keep Latu close to the vest.
Kincaid is headed into a critical year. He’s coming off his 1st Pro Bowl selection in 2025 with 39 receptions for 571 yards and 5 touchdowns in just 12 games — he missed 5 games due to injury.
The 2023 1st-round pick (No. 25 overall) is playing for big money in 2026.
The Bills picked up the 5th-year option on his 4-year, $13.4 million rookie contract on March 30, which would be worth approximately $8.1 million in 2027, although the bigger payday would come with a breakout season this year. Kincaid seemed on that track as a rookie with 73 receptions for 673 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2023, but injuries have held him back. In 3 seasons, he’s missed 10 regular-season games and has yet to play in every regular-season game.
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