Cincinnati Bengals Team | Bengals.com

Fredi Knighten joined the Bengals staff in 2022 as an offensive assistant, after spending the 2021 campaign as an offensive analyst at Utah State University.

Fredi Knighten joined the Bengals staff in 2022 as an offensive assistant, after spending the 2021 campaign as an offensive analyst at Utah State University.

In 2021, Knighten helped the Utah State offense set program records in passing yards (4248), TD passes (41), total 100-yard receiving games (13) and number of WRs with 10-plus TD catches (three). The Aggies finished the season ranked 15th nationally in passing offense (303.4 yards per game), 23rd in total offense (445.6 yards per game) and 33rd in scoring offense (32.6 points per game). The USU offense played a large role in the team tying the school record for wins (11) and claiming the program's first Mountain West Championship.

Knighten worked with WR Deven Thompkins, who in 2021 was named an AP third-team All-American and a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award. Thompkins ranked second in the NCAA and set a school record with 1,704 receiving yards on 102 receptions. He tied a Utah State record with nine total 100-yard receiving games, including six straight games with 100-plus yards.

Knighten went to Utah State after spending two seasons (2019-20) at Massachusetts, where he served as running backs coach for both years and also coached the quarterbacks in 2020. During the 2020 season, none of the team's five RBs that fielded a handoff committed a fumble once over a combined 344 carries. The group rushed for a combined 1460 yards (4.2 per carry) and 11 TDs.

Prior to his time at UMass, Knighten served as a graduate assistant at Florida State for the 2018 season. He helped the Seminoles offense rank third in the ACC in passing yards per game (270.1), with QB Deondre Francois throwing for 2731 yards and 15 TDs. He was also a graduate assistant for two years (2016-17) at Maryland, helping the Terrapins rank in the top-20 nationally for fewest turnovers (14) in 2017. That season, WR DJ Moore set a school record with 80 receptions and led the Big Ten with 1033 receiving yards. Moore would become a first-round draft pick by the Carolina Panthers in 2018.

In 2016, Maryland's offense rushed for 2594 yards, marking the first time the program had 2500-plus yards on the ground since 2003. In the passing game, QB Perry Hills led the Big Ten in completion percentage (61.9).

Knighten enjoyed a decorated playing career as a dual-threat QB at Arkansas State (2012-15), ranking fourth in program history with 6986 total yards. He graduated with the second-most total yards in a single season (4056 in 2014) and was a two-time All-Sun Belt selection. Knighten was named MVP of the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl after recording 212 yards of total offense and leading the Red Wolves on a 55-yard game-winning drive in the final 1:25 of regulation.

A native of Little Rock, Ark., Knighten earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Arkansas State in 2016. He and his wife, Alexis, have a son, Malcolm.