Dallas Cowboys Draft: 10 Tight End Prospects and Their Fit
Dawson Knox, Ole Miss
What’s Good: Athleticism, Frame, Positional Flexibility
What Ain’t Good: Offense system, Production, Injuries
It’s safe to say that Knox will be this year’s “high upside tight end with an utter lack of production.” Ole Miss’s offense is very elementary. The expectation is one learns 25-30 plays all while mastering 5-6 different routes. The type of receivers who succeed in this offense can get separation through their supreme understanding of leverage and above average agility, or by being a bit faster than everyone. (AJ Brown vs. DK Metcalf)
Knox would fit in the “faster than everyone” category. Standing at 6’4″ and 254 pounds, he was recorded running a 40 yard dash sub 4.6. While that was the expectation, it was still an impressive sight to behold. If he wasn’t already seen as the high upside athlete of the draft, then he certainly turned some heads.
Knox’s film is still good even considering he’s a bit raw. As a blocker he uses his arms well to protect at the point of attack. He plays with good strength and doesn’t lose leverage as a blocker. As a receiver, he needs to improve as a whole but that would definitely be a result of poor development on the Ole Miss coaching staff.
He is explosive enough to get separation at the next level, but he simply isn’t refined. Also, his film is composed of bubble screens, outs, streaks, and slants. As mentioned before, the Ole Miss offense is elementary so he will be required to learn the whole route tree as well as continuing to refine the routes he knows to run now.
In addition, Knox has had his fair share of injuries hence leading to limited production at Ole Miss. This is a big concern for every team as injuries at the college level don’t normally translate well to the NFL.
Teams, like the Cowboys who invited him as a 30 visit, will probably love Knox’s upside but there are several knocks on his game that will cause him to fall to the end of Day 3. The team that spends a high pick on him may look foolish, but the team that does pull the trigger could land a very special talent.