Over the next two weeks, DallasCowboys.com dives deeper into the talented group of undrafted rookies that are expected to battle for a roster spot this offseason. Today, we profile one of the two tailbacks added after the draft.
- Name: Brenden Knox
- Position: Running Back
- Height: 5-10
- Weight: 215
- School: Marshall (C-USA)
- Awards & Recognition: 2019 C-USA Most Valuable Player, First Team All-C-USA 2019 and 2020, two-year team captain
The Good: The selling point for Knox is his play strength. Extra strong build that is ready to take a couple of hits and the ability to step out of a tackle are each skills seen on repeat against collegiate defenders. Knox has a knack for moving in the right direction when turned around and using a stout lower half to push the pile. A bell-cow back that will take a heavy workload in stride, as shown in 2019 where he tallied 270 carries across 13 games, tops in the conference.
The Project: Sure, the speed is not going to jump off the page for Knox. But a 4.66 for a running back is not a great number and pretty accurate to what is shown on film. He plays with this lateral quickness that could get away with against lower competition but can't really reach the edge before defenders start to catch up. Because of this, Knox is rarely ever a deep play threat
The Summary: Knox is a smaller, compact runner who emulates more of a bowling ball than a running back from time to time. One of the more decorated players Marshall has ever seen as he's the seventh player in program history to reach 2,800 yards over his career. Three-year starter who ran behind Cowboys fourth-round pick Josh Ball for his best years. Named the Conference USA Most Valuable Player in 2019 after leading the league in rushing yards (1,387) and towards the top in touchdowns (11) as well.
