In a day in which the New York Jets were without their lead running back, Michael Carter, it was the second straight week for Zonovan “Bam” Knight to lead this backfield. And he delivered yet again in a big way.
In yesterday’s crushing loss, the Jets ran the football 24 times. Knight led the way with 15 of those, running for 90 yards, an average of six yards per carry. He had a big 48-yard run that got the Jets’ lone touchdown drive in the fourth quarter going.
From there, Knight once again proved his reliability out of the backfield. He was targeted five times, catching all of them for 28 yards (5.6 yards per catch) with a long of eight.
In total, Knight finished Week 13 with 20 total touches for 118 yards (5.9 yards per touch). That now gives him two games of 100-plus yards from scrimmage in his first two NFL appearances. A thrilling start for the 21-year-old undrafted rookie.
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New York Jets Zonovan “Bam” Knight showing loads of potential:
After his first two games, Knight has 221 scrimmage yards (110.5 per game). On the ground, Knight has gotten 29 carries (14.5 per game), run for 159 yards (79.5 per game), and is averaging 5.5 yards per carry. His longest runs have gone for 19 and 48 yards in his two games.
From there, in the passing game, Knight has been valuable to the Jets’ offense as well. He has caught all eight passes to come his way and picked up 62 yards receiving (31 per game), with his biggest catch going for 16 yards.
Knight has had a total of 37 touches over two weeks (18.5 per game) and is averaging six yards per touch.
From yesterday’s game, one impressive stat recorded by Knight was his yards after contact per rush average of 4.53. That was the second-most among all qualifying running backs in Week 13. Ironically, the NFL leader this year was another Jets rookie running back, Breece Hall, with 4.11.
This also follows up a game in which Knight had nine forced missed tackles.
Following Week 13’s excellence, Knight joined Phillip Lindsay as the only undrafted players in the common-draft era since 1967, to record at least 100 total yards in their first two NFL games.
In terms of his traits that have been on display, Knight has certainly proved some power. Despite not being the biggest, he is a hard, physical runner who is tough to bring down. Knight has also shown some explosiveness as a runner, with the ability to accelerate as he goes. He is certainly a decisive, one-cut runner as well. Lastly, as noted, Knight has proven his trustworthy hands as a pass-catcher, too.
The two-game start could not possibly be any better for Knight. Breece Hall, Carter, and Knight are certainly giving the Jets a young running back trio to feel great about for years to come. Down the stretch here, over the final five games of 2022, expect a continued, big role for Knight in the Jets offense with big plays.