Buffalo Bills Rookie Review: Tight end Dawson Knox

Rookie Dawson Knox concluded his first season with the Buffalo Bills this year with much to take away and build on as the team looks to reload for 2020.

During the first round of the draft, the Bills were projected by many experts to draft one of the top-tier tight ends out of Iowa, either T.J Hockenson or Noah Fant. When it came their time to select, Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane decided to address a different position with the selection of defensive tackle, Ed Oliver from Houston.  Two rounds later with the 96th pick, Beane got his tight end in Dawson Knox from Ole Miss.

During his time with the Rebels, the 22-year old from Brentwood, Tenn. gained many accolades. Knox was nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy in 2017 (A trophy awarded to the best FBS player who was a walk-on), won the Park Stevens Award in 2017, was on the watch list for the Mackey Award among many more and was invited to the 2019 NFL combine. There his talents were on display and impressed many including NFL analyst, Lance Zierlein who spoke highly about Knox saying: “his aggressiveness and talent as a run-blocker could provide him work as a combo tight end for years to come.”

With the addition of Knox, the Bills tight end room was injected with youth to balance out the veteran presence of Tyler Kroft and Lee Smith. In his first two weeks, his addition to the lineup did not produce an immediate impact. Being targeted only twice for 19 yards there was not much to get excited about this early. That was until the Cincinnati Bengals visited New Era Field.

Week 3 could be seen as the moment Knox ‘arrived’ in Buffalo. In the first quarter, he hauled in his first career touchdown in the red-zone on a play-action pass from Josh Allen to put the Bills up early. This would not be the play he would be remembered for on the week as his efforts later in the game would go viral.

Late in the fourth quarter with the Buffalo Bills down three, Knox stiff-armed and trucked his way through the Bengals secondary for a 49-yard gain. This monstrous play set up a last-minute game-winning touchdown by Frank Gore to preserve the Bills undefeated record.

After that game, Knox firmly controlled the starting position on the Buffalo Bills depth chart and would go on to have a respectable rookie season. He finished with 28 receptions for 338 yards and two touchdowns, putting Knox on par with the other tight end talent in his draft class. He gained 20 more yards than Hockenson- the player the Bills were supposed to take in the first round- but 174 yards less than Fant.

His first season was not all good as he did have his fair share of dropped balls this season and looked to be still adjusting to the NFL at times. In an interview on ‘One Bills Live‘, Knox talked about how different the season was to training camp saying: “My head was spinning when I got to camp and we’re going through OTAs. It was like a brand new world of football,” he said. “Now I feel like it’s starting to slow down for me,” he added.

As the NFL game transitions away from the ‘ground and pound’ game and more towards the vertical game, teams that can incorporate their tight end in the passing game-such as the two teams in the upcoming Super Bowl with George Kittle on San Francisco and Travis Kelce on Kansas City-have done better than those who don’t.

Moving forward into the 2020 season, the Buffalo Bills will need to address their offense if they have true intentions of winning the AFC East. Opting to acquire pieces through the draft or to give Josh Allen more weapons to air the ball out could provide more opportunities for Dawson Knox.

If the Buffalo Bills can implement their own version of the model that has made the New England Patriots so successful; having wideout talent that can burn you as well as having a pass-catching tight end, Dawson Knox can certainly be an integral piece of a formidable Buffalo offense for years to come.