Demetrius Knight reflects on his history as a quarterback leading to him becoming "quarterback of the defense" ready for the NFL
On Wednesday, South Carolina football captain Demetrius Knight had his first opportunity to speak with the media at the NFL Combine. As usual, he impressed those in attendance with his showing in front of the microphones.
One of the most interesting parts of his press conference came when Knight addressed his journey from being a high school quarterback to becoming an SEC linebacker on the verge of selection in the NFL Draft. For those unfamiliar, as a high school dual-threat quarterback committed to Georgia Tech, he went to Tech to run the option under head coach Paul Johnson; however, when Johnson retired, things changed, and he moved to linebacker.
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Said Knight, “So, playing quarterback was everything I thought I’d be doing. I mean, I thought I’d be here (at the NFL Combine) right now as a quarterback.” Knight, though, considers his new role a blessing. “The roles were flipped, and now I’m just the quarterback of the defense.”
As one might imagine, transitioning from quarterback to linebacker isn’t easy. Not only is it a move from one side of the football to the other, but it is a shift from being a player who looks to avoid contact with other players for the purpose of scoring to becoming a player who seeks to hit other players to keep them from scoring.
Knight laughingly thought of his time under center when he said, “I wasn’t trying to do the hitting. I was trying to avoid getting hit.” He continued, “Doing the hitting [after transitioning to defense] was something very foreign to me. But after repetition and going to Charlotte to develop…[helped me] to go to South Carolina for my last season and put it all together.”
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Knight’s journey was long, but he certainly did “put it all together.” In his last two seasons, he earned all-conference honors in both the AAC (first-team) and the SEC (honorable mention). This year with the Gamecocks, Knight was second on the team in tackles despite playing in a loaded linebacker room. He also made one of the biggest plays of the year, intercepting quarterback Cade Klubnik to seal South Carolina’s Palmetto Bowl victory over the rival Clemson Tigers.
If things go well for him at the combine and at South Carolina’s pro day in March, Knight could push his way into an early day-two pick. His athletic testing and interview opportunities should do nothing but help that cause.
Knight and a long list of other Gamecocks will be at the combine for the next several days. Follow along with South Carolina players in Indianapolis with GamecockCentral’s NFL Combine Headquarters.
