Starter: Dawson Knox
The destined starter for next season, Knox showed tons of ability in his first NFL season by using his great athleticism to be a terror after the catch.
Playing in 15 games, the former Ole Miss Rebel, produced 28 receptions for 388 yards and two touchdowns. This isn’t extreme production, but he showed the ability to thrive in every aspect of the tight end position. Since having no touchdowns since he was a junior in high school, Knox was without a doubt raw coming into his rookie season but the progress he made will excite Buffalo Bills’ fans.
One thing the young tight end will have to work on is his hands. He had too many concentration drops, where he would turn away from the ball before it was caught, resulting in some ugly drops.
Knox had seven total drops on the season, on just 50 target and that is a number that can’t be replicated again next season.
TE drop percentage (Min 50 targets)
— Cover 1 (@Cover1) February 19, 2020
Dawson Knox 17.9
Eric Ebron 14.6
OJ Howard 14.0
Tyler Eifert 10.0
Jack Doyle 9.6
Jimmy Graham 8.7
Vance McDonald 8.7
Noah Fant 8.5
Jason Witten 8.5
Jared Cook 7.7
His drop rate lead the whole NFL at tight end, and is a problem that will need fixing. A reasonable explanation would be his lack of reps in college after having only 39 receptions. With a full season of NFL football, and working in an NFL environment for a full year, Knox should have his drop problem at least improved if not fully rectified.
During his rookie season, Knox showed an ability to come up with the difficult, highlight reel catches much like this one versus the Patriots:
It is going to come down to concentration for Knox. If he uses the same amount of concentration with every one of the passes that comes his way, he should be able to weed out his problem.
It should be interesting to see how much the promising tight end progresses from his rookie to sophomore season.