All those June jokes about Dawson Knox working with a vision specialist to help improve are starting to look pretty silly right about now.
The Buffalo Bills tight end has indeed taken the "next step" he was looking for in Year 3 after working with a specialist to improve his hand-eye coordination during the offseason.
The work has particularly paid off in the red zone, where Knox's four touchdowns are tied for most by a tight end in the NFL through four weeks (Rob Gronkowski). The four TDs lead the Bills despite Buffalo sporting an array of receiving talent.
"Whether it be blocking, whether it be pass-catching to running routes, he just finds ways to get open," Allen said of Knox, via ESPN. "I have supreme trust in this guy right here, and he's only going to continue to get better."
Allen's trust in Knox is displayed in the red zone, where the tight end is tied for the most targets on the Bills with wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley. Knox also leads the Bills with 29 red-zone yards.
While his counting stats haven't been mind-blowing, just 144 total yards, he's scoring at an incredible rate. Knox has a TD in each of the past three games, including two in Week 4.
The biggest knock on Knox entering the season was bad drops during his first two seasons. The work with the vision specialist appears to have paid off early in the season. Knox has caught 15 of his 20 targets with a lone drop.
"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," Knox said. "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."
Through four games, Knox has been plenty good on an offense that has been explosive to quiet the trade talks. Expect the TE to continue to benefit from that trust built with Allen, particularly in the restricted nature of the red zone.