Knox Nightmare SEC Teams Don't Want to Have

Pittman's call to become tight end brilliant move that can become NFL path

FAYETTEVILLE - There was a time last season when Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles ran what felt like half the team through tight end drills because the cupboard was bare.

It almost led to running back Dominique Johnson, who evolved into the Razorbacks' strongest weapon out of the backfield late in the season, not growing into the role.

Instead, the coaches decided to move the 6-5, 215 pound Trey Knox from receiver to tight end. While it's decent size for a receiver, he was massively undersized for an SEC tight end.

Running back Dominique Johnson and tight end Trey Knox celebrate during the 2021 season. Both were asked to consider moving from their positions to tight end / Arkansas Communications

It felt like the most desperate of moves, and as Knox tried to block at times it looked just that. However, while the junior never felt like he'd live up to his potential at wide receiver, he slowly grew into the role, literally.

The physicality the position demanded put muscle on Knox at a time where players tend to lose a little weight. He also created problems for defenders who would normally pick up slower, lumbering tight ends. 

By year's end, Knox felt like he almost belonged in the role.

Arkansas tight end Trey Knox slips past a block for a big play during a late season win over Mississippi State. By then Knox had fully bought in and was beginning to settle into the position :: Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Images

Then the offseason happened. The once wiry receiver packed on 30 pounds over the course of a year.

At 245, Knox entered the season with the body of a tight end. However, as Cincinnati found out in Razorback Stadium Saturday, he did so while sacrificing little to none of his speed. 

The rebuilt receiver is a match-up nightmare for linebackers and defensive backs alike. He's a quirky mutant hybrid player typically reserved for customized athletes in video games. 

The film he put up against the Bearcats alone is enough to keep defensive coordinators in cold sweats  at night.

When the running game slowed and Arkansas needed a big play for a first down to keep the drive alive, quarterback KJ Jefferson threaded a pass into tight double coverage to Knox. 

He shouldn't have been able to catch it. However, his wider body created space as defenders collided into him from either side and while his strong wide receiver hands snatched it milliseconds before impact and held on to move the sticks. 

Knox had displayed all the skills of a gifted 1990s basketball center, the heyday of huge, super athletic big men on the college court.

Those skills, plus the chemistry he has developed with Jefferson over the years was on display with 22 seconds left in the first half. With former Heisman winning Florida quarterback on campus, Jefferson out-Tebowed Tim Tebow with a perfectly executed jump pass for a touchdown.

Again, Knox's size allowed him to power up through a defender who had him well covered. He was also able to use his superior size to shield the ball while he stretched to haul it in with his soft hands.

Arkansas tight end Trey Knox uses his body to shield off a Cincinnati Bearcats defender while using his newly acquired strength and size to power through the defensive hold to high point the ball

Arkansas tight end Trey Knox uses the soft hands he developed as a wide receiver to haul in a jump pass from quarterback KJ Jefferson with 22 seconds left in the first half :: (Ted McClenning / allHOGS Images)

Adjust any variable Knox brings to the table and that touchdown doesn't happen.

If that wasn't enough nightmare fuel for future opponents, what he did in the second half was straight up out of a Freddy Kreuger movie.

Jefferson found Knox open in the flat after leaving his defender in the dust. Knox then turned on the jets, reading the block of freshman tight end Ty Washington to find the lane up the sideline in a dead sprint to which no Bearcat could catch up.

Had the defensive backs caught up to him, if they didn't knock him out of bounds, what were they going to do? None of them were big enough or strong enough to take down a man that size moving that fast.

Physics is a real thing and the math behind it says getting in the way of Knox at full speed is like stepping in front of a pony at a dead sprint in hopes your body will be enough to stop it.

With all the things that have happened at Arkansas since Pittman took over to generate hope, the evolution of Knox may turn out to be the biggest. 

It took him until senior year to become a pro level football player, but the wait is worth it. It's time to acknowledge the Arkansas Nightmare. 

After all, he's a big reason why the Razorbacks joined a list of teams to defeat Cincinnati in 2+ seasons to defeat the Bearcats that previously only included Alabama and Georgia, the last two national champions, and Georgia only won by three.

Arkansas fans have traditionally been good at appreciating greatness when it wanders onto the field. Hopefully, they recognize it again in Knox.

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