Zonovan Knight could be elevated to the Lions 53-Man roster
The Detroit Lions made a nice move on Wednesday when they added former Jets running back Zonovan Knight to their practice squad. So far, Knight is the only new Lion that the team has added. While he's on the practice squad now, he could be headed towards bigger things soon. Here's why. At 4PM on […]
The Detroit Lions made a nice move on Wednesday when they added former Jets running back Zonovan Knight to their practice squad. So far, Knight is the only new Lion that the team has added. While he's on the practice squad now, he could be headed towards bigger things soon. Here's why.
At 4PM on Wednesday, teams became able to place players on the injured reserve list without having to lose them for the entire season. If you're placed on IR before the 4PM deadline, you have to miss the season, if you're placed after the deadline, you only have to miss four games.
The Lions are expected to add at least one player to the list this week. Possibly two. Those players do not count against the 53-man roster. That will open up two roster spots for the Lions. One of those spots could very well go to Zonovan Knight.
Knight could be on his way to being the Lions third running back. There's some thought that the Lions might just bring back Craig Reynolds, and that could happen, but Knight is arguably an upgrade over Reynolds.
With Knight the Lions get a player that's five years younger and has a lot more upside. That's really what the difference is here. It's all about the upside and the Lions have a roster that can nurture that upside without throwing Knight into the deep end.
Knight brings a shiftiness that's hard to not notice. He also has good field vision and accelerates nicely through the hole. He has a real burst to him.
It's only going to help Knight that he's now running behind a much better offensive line than he had in New York.
Knight went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft, but was signed by the Jets. Knight made the Jets 53 man roster out of camp, but didn't play his first game until Week 12. He then played the final seven games of the season and started four of them. He ran for 300 yards and a touchdown.
Knight had a shot to have a bigger role with the Jets in 2023, but the team signed Dalvin Cook and got Breece Hall back. That make Knight the odd man out.
Now in Detroit, he can be the Lions third running back. He also has a chance to do more. Knight was a pretty good return man at North Carolina State.
The Jets gave him a shot to return some kicks in preseason last year and he impressed there as well, but the Jets went with Braxton Berrios as their return man instead.
The Lions don't currently have a return man. Pretty much everyone they tried at the role in the preseason is no longer with the team or is on the practice squad. Khalil Dorsey being the only guy left. He only had one return though. Knight could fill this role as well as being the third running back.
We'll soon see if this is indeed what the Lions have planned.
Detroit Lions practice squad tracker
The Detroit Lions will complete their cuts at 4:00 on Tuesday. Then things will shift a bit for the team as they begin to sign players to their practice squad. That should start as early as Wednesday. The practice squad is different these days. Last year the NFL allowed teams to have 12 players on […]
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