Utah has had a lot of recent success at the tight end position.
The duo of Dalton Kincaid and Brant Kuithe lit up scoreboards for years in Salt Lake City, with Kincaid being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2023 and finding success in Western New York. Without a lengthy injury history, including a season-ender in his final year with Utah, Kuithe likely would have been drafted too.
This year, basketball-player-turned-tight-end Caleb Lohner was drafted by the Denver Broncos after notching four catches for four touchdowns in his only season playing football at the collegiate level, though he was eventually cut by the team on Tuesday.
Heading into the 2025 season, things are a bit murkier at a position that is usually a strength for the Utes.
“Maybe the biggest surprise ... is that JJ Buchanan has really emerged as a playmaker on offense. He’s listed as a tight end, 6-3, about 225 (pounds), but he can do a lot of different things.”
— Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
There’s the question of how new offensive coordinator Jason Beck will incorporate tight ends into his offense. He didn’t involve the position group very much at New Mexico, but that was mostly due to the personnel he had in Albuquerque.
When Beck was the offensive coordinator at Syracuse in 2023 — his only Power Four OC job before Utah — he made a point to get the ball to tight end Oronde Gadsden II, though Gadsden suffered an early season-ending injury.
Beck has proven in his short offensive coordinator history that he will adjust his scheme to feature talent. Now, it’s up to the tight ends to prove that they belong in his offense, and they’ve done so in fall camp.
“It’s been one of our more consistent rooms with that mix of guys showing up every day,” Beck said. “... So they’ve been a strength of the group in terms of their consistency and what they’re getting done.”
Tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham believes that his group will certainly have a place in Utah’s new offense.
“I think you’ll see on the field who we believe in based on who’s out there and what they’re doing,” Whittingham said.
Unlike previous years, there’s not a proven tight end in the rotation.
Dallen Bentley is likely TE1, but he had just two receptions for 15 yards last season. Then there’s Hunter Andrews, the running-back-turned-tight-end that’s received rave reviews from Utah’s coaching staff, and Otto Tia, who had 44 receptions for 434 yards and seven touchdowns as a receiver at Utah State last year.
But if you’re looking for an ‘X factor’ player who could come in and contribute this season at tight end, look no further than freshman JJ Buchanan.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Buchanan, a four-star recruit from Coronado High in Henderson, Nevada, was one of the top players in Utah’s 2025 recruiting class and his fall camp turned heads among Utah’s coaching staff.
“Maybe the biggest surprise ... is that JJ Buchanan has really emerged as a playmaker on offense,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said during Utah’s fan fest. “He’s listed as a tight end, 6-3, about 225 (pounds), but he can do a lot of different things.”
Whittingham highlighted Buchanan’s 40-inch vertical jump.
“His ability to go up and play the contested ball is special,” Whittingham said.
The two-sport athlete, who also lettered in basketball in high school, was a two-way football player, playing receiver and safety.
Utah felt like he could play right away on the offensive side of the ball, and after gaining 25 pounds ahead of the season, he’s been a great fit at tight end.
“I feel like he has earned the right to see reps in this game and he’s obviously just a true freshman, but he comes with a lot of confidence. I don’t see the lights being too bright for him, but come Saturday we’ll see what we got.”
— Utah tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham on true freshman JJ Buchanan
“He’s turned himself more into a tight end body and learned more of the tight end craft,” Freddie Whittingham said. “And so I think that the things that he combines is being able to be a tight end, but also have the athleticism of somebody that can play outside.”
Kyle Whittingham mentioned the possibility of using Buchanan in special packages, like he’ll be using “Swiss army knifes” Nate Johnson and Andrews, and Freddie Whittingham believes that Buchanan has earned the right to play in Utah’s opener at UCLA.
“JJ had a really good fall camp and the whole philosophy of this offense is putting guys in positions where they can do things that they’re good at and where they’ll be successful,” Freddie Whittingham said.
“And I think that goes for anybody, JJ included. I feel like he has earned the right to see reps in this game and he’s obviously just a true freshman, but he comes with a lot of confidence. I don’t see the lights being too bright for him, but come Saturday we’ll see what we got.”
The Utes need a breakout star at tight end this season, and Buchanan, if he continues his play from fall camp, could be it.
