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          NFL Nation

          Dawson Knox emerging as receiving TE threat Bills desperately needed

          • Alaina Getzenberg, ESPNOct 5, 2021, 06:00 AM ET
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              Alaina Getzenberg is a staff writer who covers the Buffalo Bills and the NFL. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. You can follow her via Twitter @agetzenberg.

          ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Through the first four games of the Buffalo Bills' 2021 season, the No. 1-ranked defense has been the star of the show. The Bills defense is allowing only 216.8 yards per game, has shutout two opponents and the team has a +90 scoring differential, best in the NFL by a significant margin.

          The offense, though, has been pretty good too, putting up 35-plus points in each of the past three games. Among the positives has been the team’s leader in touchdown catches, tight end Dawson Knox.

          Knox, a third-round pick in 2019, has been the favorite target of quarterback Josh Allen in the red zone, with the pair celebrating touchdown catches by posing for fake prom pictures.

          Knox's four touchdown catches are the second-most in the NFL and tied for the most among tight ends (Bucs' Rob Gronkowski). He is tied with wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley for the most red zone targets (six) on the team and leads the team in red zone receiving yards with 29.

          The third-year tight end has at least one score in each of the past three games, the first Bills tight end to do that since Charles Clay in 2016. His hot touchdown streak extends to the 2020 postseason, which he finished with two scores.

          While he’s not putting up huge receiving yards (averaging a career-high 36 yards per game), Knox has taken a step forward as both a receiver and a blocker in the running game, an area of his play both Allen and coach Sean McDermott praised after Sunday's 40-0 win over the Texans.

          “Whether it be blocking, whether it be pass catching to running routes, he just finds ways to get open,” Allen said. “I have supreme trust in this guy right here and he’s only going to continue to get better.”

          In the offseason, one of the Bills’ big needs was a pass-catching tight end. The position combined for 41 catches (tied for 29th in the league with the Jets) producing 457 yards and eight touchdowns in 2020. Two of the tight ends that were part of the group -- Tyler Kroft and Lee Smith -- are no longer on the roster.

          General manager Brandon Beane acknowledged then that their tight ends weren’t an imposing threat.

          "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,’” Beane said.

          While Beane referenced wanting a tight end like Kansas City's Travis Kelce, whom the Bills will see Sunday (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), Buffalo decided not to go outside of the building for a starter -- instead sticking with Knox.

          “There’s always going to be a lot of noise coming from the outside talking about trades for certain players or acquiring different free agents,” said Knox, who spent part of the offseason working with Allen. “But we gotta focus on us, you know? I gotta focus on myself and I’ve gotta get better every day. As soon as I start worrying about what people are saying about the tight end position or the offense, that’s the second you start to slip and lose focus on where you want to be.”

          Knox is part of a 2019 draft class that's been under pressure to produce more this year. Fellow third-rounder, running back Devin Singletary, has had a mixed start to the season with some fumbling issues, putting the ball on the ground in three of the four games. Singletary has been splitting time with second-year back Zack Moss. The Bills' running game has been effective, however. Buffalo accumulated 199 yards on the ground against the Texans, with 106 coming after contact. It was the team’s most yards after contact since Week 14 of 2017 and its fifth-most since ESPN began tracking that in 2009.

          Safety Jaquan Johnson, a 2019 sixth-round pick, started in place of Jordan Poyer against Houston and came away with an interception. The first-round pick from that 2019 class, defensive lineman Ed Oliver, had four tackles and a tackle for loss Sunday. He’s played well this year, but still needs to grow in his third season. Offensive tackle Cody Ford, a 2019 second-rounder, was benched Sunday in favor of rookie Spencer Brown, who made his first career start.

          With little tight end depth on the roster, Knox was arguably the player from that 2019 group that needed to take the biggest step forward. He has already accounted for nine first downs this year, just five away from his total last season.

          “The little things you do right start to add up,” Allen said after the win over Houston. “[Knox] does everything right throughout the week and it’s awesome to play with him.”

          “Thank you,” Knox responded. “We need some more prom pics.”