Buffalo Bills: Dawson Knox has to become a sure handed target for Josh Allen

Recapping the 2019 season for Knox

The tight end position was hit hard with injuries during last offseason as the expected starter Tyler Kroft suffered a broken foot in OTAs. Then during training camp, Dawson Knox suffered an injury of his own that forced him to miss all of the preseason.

This likely contributed to a pretty pedestrian start to the season and through the first two games he only had two catches for 19 yards. However, then in Week 3 he made a play that shook not only Bills football but the national audience.

In a crucial moment in the game with the Bills trailing by three with under 5 minutes left, it was  Knox’s time to make a play. Making a huge catch wide open and proceeded to throw a nasty stiff arm then truck stick the next Bengals defender to bring the ball even further into Bengals territory:

The rookie tight end was great again the next game versus the Patriots with a crazy catch while being draped by New England Patriots’ safety Patrick Chung:

These two highlight reel plays were a small look into what was to come later that year and what’s in store for his professional career.

Josh Allen and Knox looked like they were building good chemistry throughout the year and the quarterback wasn’t hesitant to look his way even when covered.

The highlights keep piling up with the Ole Miss product, he made a ridiculous one handed catch versus the Ravens, showing his proficiency to come down with contested catches:

It wasn’t a season without its negatives for Knox though, as he struggled mightily consistently catching the football, dropping easy passes from Allen occurred way too much for the rookie. This could be due to his lack of reps in college, catching just under 40 passes in his career. This is a problem that Knox will have to rectify if he wants to become a heavily featured player in the Buffalo Bills offense.

Knox had six drops during his first season on just 50 targets. Those drops ranked fourth highest in the NFL but his drop rate, which was 12%, was last in the league. Quite a glaring problem from his first season but with the more reps he gets he should be able to improve his hands.

The rookie from Ole Miss ended the season with 28 receptions for 388 yards and 2 touchdowns on the season, in a year that was a success for Knox.