The high school football recruiting class of 2015 may be the greatest quarterback cycle of all time. Heisman winners Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray and Lamar Jackson headline the class, but there were plenty of other first round talents with the likes of Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Daniel Jones called on the first day of the draft.
In that class, Ole Miss pulled three quarterbacks. The most notable passer of that year was Chad Kelly, whose moxie and swagger took the Ole Miss campus by storm, making him a school legend for years to come.
Strangely enough, the other two quarterbacks that year would both switch to tight end and spend their career catching passes from their former position-mate. The first of the two was Jason Pellerin, who was a high 3-star prospect but would finish his career with 108 receiving yards. The second was Dawson Knox.
Knox was an unranked prospect from Brentwood, Tennessee, who held zero Power Five offers. He would accept a walk-on spot from Ole Miss and after battling his way into the starting lineup, end up being a top 100 pick in the 2019 NFL draft.
Despite his massive jump in stock, Knox probably would have been selected even higher if he had been utilized more during his time in Oxford. The 6-foot-4 tight end had just 39 catches in his career, which he turned into 605 yards. In his final year, Knox was averaging a very impressive 18.9 yards per catch, which is one of the reasons Buffalo decided to spend the 96th overall pick in the 2019 draft on him.
Since being drafted, Knox has steadily improved each season, which is expected for a player who has only been a tight end since his freshman year of college. Granted, his background as a quarterback certainly helped his development, but either way, Knox is growing into a young star at the position.
During the 2021-2022 NFL season, Knox was tied as the touchdown reception leader among tight ends, beating out the likes of Rob Gronkowski, George Kittle and Zach Ertz. Knox has shown a knack for making big plays as well, with a catch-and-run of his going viral in 2019 for the truly vicious truck move he stuck on Bengals safety Jessie Bates (who has since gone on to make an all-pro team).
In 2021, Knox proved he is more than just a red zone threat. He picked up 31 first downs for the Bills and caught an impressive 69% of his targets, more than star receivers like Stefon Diggs, DeAndre Hopkins and Justin Jefferson.
The transition from college to NFL can be especially tough for tight ends, but Knox is handling the bump in competition exceedingly well, turning himself into a go-to option for one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.
