Ht – 5’10” Wt – 209lb Class – JR Age – 21
Career Statistics
2021 Stats – 140 Att, 753 RuYds (5.4 YPC), 3 TD, 21 Rec, 156 RecYds (12 Games Played)
Career Stats – 419 Att, 2286 RuYds (5.5 YPC), 18 TD, 48 Rec, 337 RecYds (36 Games Played)
Attribute Breakdown
Vision – Not ideal. There were a few instances of great anticipation, but he missed many cutback opportunities and developing gaps. He also didn’t show the requisite patience to be a patient and anticipatory “through the tackles” runner.
Elusiveness – Extremely elusive. There isn’t a better term for Zonovan Knight than “shifty”. He quite literally shifts his whole body to one of his sides to side-step tackles with ease. While he doesn’t have the power to run through tackles or bounce of them, he isn’t a lightweight either. There are few more dangerous in the open field (among this RB class) than Knight.
Blocking – Average blocker. He usually opts for the chop block, which had mixed results. When trying to square up blitzers, he had good form, but his size prevents him from being a stonewalling blocker. To his credit, he has great patience and vision when blocking in the backfield.
Burst – Slightly above-average. Knight showed the ability to hit holes with speed, but he never showed that explosion that is so coveted and hard to stop.
Receiving – Arguably his best trait, and possibly even among the best in the class. Knight even lined out wide often, and he has great cuts and sharp route breaks to be a dangerous receiver down the field. With soft hands and great quickness, he is the ideal 3rd down back.
Explosiveness – Knight didn’t have that explosion that I was hoping for. He has the quickness, athleticism, and elusiveness to be a dangerous threat, but he never showed that top-end breakaway speed. On top of that, he hardly ever broke free past the line of scrimmage unless a massive hole was opened for him, or he bounced outside.
Combine – Not ideal. While being a smaller 3rd-down-style Running Back, he ran only a 4.58 40 and jumped a 9’6″ Broad jump. He needs to be much more athletic if he will be the finesse non-bruiser.
Overall
Zonovan “Bam” Knight has the greatest name in the draft. Yes, it’s better than “Sauce” (which is also just a nickname).
On the field, he is an athletic and smooth runner, with elite 3rd down traits. He is a dangerous receiver who will demand coverage help, or will demand a DB, either way freeing up other receivers. He also showed adequate blocking, so he can be relied on in all pass sets.
As a pure runner, however, he isn’t the ideal early-down back. He doesn’t have great size or top-end speed, and his vision and burst are lacking. I won’t rule out a 3-down role for him, as he showed some success at NC State, but he didn’t dominate in any way.
He is a very intriguing prospect, with good shiftiness and elusiveness, I wonder how he will impact the NFL. His traits are coveted enough that he will always be a contributor to teams.
See Zonovan Knight’s overall ranking among other players on my Big Board.
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