Demetrius Knight Jr. has only been with the Cincinnati Bengals for two months, but he's already standing ten toes down for his quarterback.
Knight has gotten a small taste of what it's like to practice against Joe Burrow after several weeks of offseason workouts, OTAs, and mandatory minicamp. The rookie linebacker took starting reps alongside Logan Wilson against Burrow and the starters on offense.
He's now seen numerous times how Burrow throws and moves in the pocket in person. Surely he can identify Burrow's silhouette.
That's exactly what he did earlier this week when the official NFL X/Twitter account posted a video of Burrow highlights in silhouette form, challenging viewers to guess which QB it was.
Easy work for Knight:
Cmon man, that’s too easy🤧 https://t.co/QEiHqwrWal
— Demetrius knight ll (@iam_the1knight) June 23, 2025
The lone highlight of Burrow after the reveal featured him escaping trouble in the form of Kansas City Chiefs DT Chris Jones during the 2022 AFC Championship Game, a matchup Burrow and the Bengals won.
Knight was not only still in college at the time, he had yet to start a game. He had just finished his third year at Georgia Tech and was a year away from transferring to Charlotte for a season.
Three years later, Knight was selected in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Cincinnati invested a top-50 pick in him for an instant impact on defense. Those in the locker room have already noticed it.
“He’s learning the system pretty well,” Wilson told FOX19's Charlie Goldsmith last month. “He’s very calm, cool and collected. You can tell that he has a wife and two kids. He’s very mature for a rookie.”
Knight has not signed his contract yet and is just one of 30 second-rounders who've yet to put pen-to-paper. The only two players picked in the round who have signed secured fully guaranteed contracts, an unprecedented development for players of this draft status. Knight has signed his injury waiver, which protects his contractual value in case of injury suffered before signing.
The Bengals expect that business to be taken care of when others drafted around him sign their deals. For now, Knight is as locked in as he can be with his new QB and team.
