It wasn’t that long ago that fans of the Buffalo Bills felt they may have seen the last of tight end Dawson Knox in the familiar red, white, and blue. Then some tinkering with the numbers happened and now Knox is set to return with the Bills for the 2026 season.
I’m not here to give Bills Mafia an in-depth look at Knox. We’ve seen him for years. He’s not elite and he’s not trash, so I won’t compare him to his peers either as we all likely have that locked down too. Let’s compare Dawson Knox to Dawson Knox. Also,
a short touchdown reel.
TOUCHDOWNS!
I don’t think there’s much point in analysis here. Sometimes Dawson Knox is open and it’s in or near the end zone. It happened four times during the 2025 season, which is precisely his average per year. So, this highlight reel is pretty representative of what one might expect from the tight end on an annual basis.
Knox is, in my opinion, a solid tight end all around and I’m on the “for” side of touchdowns for the Bills. Knox provides quarterback Josh Allen with another target who pans out on a semi-routine basis, and he provides blocking and draws coverage to help his teammates. Now that I’ve just vaguely described the tight end position, let’s toss out some quick stats to show you just how “Dawson Knox,” Dawson Knox was this past year.
Career wise, Knox averages 58 targets and 39 receptions per season. In 2025 he had 49 and 36 respectively. That might look like a decent dip for targets, but it’s the fourth-most he’s had in a season yet. It’s also the fourth least. He’s had seven seasons. Yes, I’m trying to be coy about saying it’s smack dab in the middle of his performances. You might even say it’s his median season. In fact I am saying that.
For yards, Knox averages 449 per year, and he finished with 417 in 2025. It’s his third-most yards, so also pretty close to middle for him. For yards per reception, Knox averages 11.8 in his career. In 2025 he had 11.6 yards per reception.
I noted Knox averages four touchdowns a year, which was his 2025 total. He also averages 23 first downs a season. Knox had 23 first downs in 2025. That’s about 1.36 first downs per game this past season, which means frequent enough where defenses have to account for Knox, but not key in on him.
There were two areas where Knox could be said to have improved. His career catch rate is 65.8%. In 2025 he hit 73.5%, barely in second to his 2022 season career high of 73.8%. Knox also played in every game in 2025, which is the first time ever.
Look, this is just a long way to say that we already know who Dawson Knox is. He’s not an exciting, shiny and new free agent. He’s also not holding the team back. Knox is a good player who belongs in the league and seems like a pretty good dude. While he’s here, I’m going to root for him.
