Getty Dawson Knox runs after a catch in a game against the Cleveland Browns.
For many Buffalo Bills fans, Dawson Knox has been something of an enigma through his first two seasons. For every diving grab and every defender bowled over after making a catch, there has been a frustrating dropped pass.
Now, the tight end is working on those shortcomings with the help of a very specific expert. Knox’s work comes as the Bills front office has called out the lack of production from the tight end position amid what is otherwise a league-best passing attack.
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Knox Working to Fix Drops
As ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques noted, Knox has had a difficult time with drops ever since he entered the league. He dropped 10 passes his rookie season — 20 percent of his targets — and improved some last year, dropping just four passes for 9.1 percent of his targets. He has now started working with “hand-eye trainer” Ryan Anderson to fix the problem.
Knox also said that more time to work with quarterback Josh Allen has been a big bonus.
“It was great being with Josh … It was good hanging out off the field, but on the field was great, too,” Knox said. “We just did a bunch of routes and it was during our first phase of Zoom meetings. So if there was a new play or route concept Dabes [offensive coordinator Brian Daboll] was installing, we were able to take it straight to the field. [Allen] kind of would work through some of the points where he would tell me what he was looking for. When to give him eyes on certain routes and real little details that we were able to hammer down on some of the new stuff, which was nice.”
Why #Bills’ Dawson Knox wanted to take part in ‘Tight End U’ last week:
Bills Looking to Improve at TE
The AFC Championship game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs exposed what Bills general manager Brandon Beane saw as a glaring hole on Buffalo’s roster — the lack of a true play-making tight end. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce caught 13 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns in the game, and later in the month Beane said the Bills need something similar. He also said that Knox still had some work to reach that level of playmaker.
“At the end of the year, I thought we did a little bit, Dawson started to get his groove, but it was never where the opposing defense was like, ‘Man, we’ve got to stop their tight ends from going off,’ ” he said, via ESPN. “We’d love to have a guy like what we just faced in Kansas City [All-Pro Travis Kelce] — they don’t come very often. But that’s what we want.”
The Bills have brought some new additions to the tight end room, including Allen’s former college teammate, Jacob Hollister. There have also been a number of reports connecting them to Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, who has reportedly asked for a trade and is expected to play for a new team in 2021. But the Bills have shied away from any major moves, even deciding against using one of their high draft picks on a tight end, which seems to pave the way for Knox to have a significant role again next season.
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