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BOULDER, Colorado — Arizona senior defensive tackle Deshawn McKnight was considered a diamond-in-the-rough player in the transfer portal. 

McKnight was a standout defensive tackle at UT Martin, but very few schools had their eyes on the FCS transfer. 

Martin caught the attention of Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, "because he's super powerful and he's super twitchy," Gonzales said.  

"I take pride in evaluation skills," Gonzales said. "I think the greatest coaches are great evaluators, because if players aren't good enough, you're not going to win."

McKnight, the Sumter, South Carolina, native, played "4-I" defensive tackle and consumed space and occupied blockers on the line of scrimmage at UT Martin. 

"He held a gap, stayed in there," Gonzales said. "He was a big body and didn't have a lot of movement schematically, but you could see instances on tape of how powerful he was." 

Gonzales was sold on McKnight after watching the defensive lineman play against Power 4 opponents. 

"Those are the people we're playing against and he was dominant and you could see some twitch in his step," Gonzales said. "Now, I'm licking my chops because we identified one that could play." 

Arizona's coaches have often referred to recruiting transfer portal players as "speed dating" since there's only a short window to get to know each other instead of an entire year or two like other recruiting cycles. Despite an offer from Oklahoma, McKnight signed to play for Arizona and has become a mainstay at defensive tackle. 

"I love it," McKnight said. "It's a blessing. I'm grateful to be in these shoes and live out a dream of mine and play at the highest level, the highest stage." 

Alongside veteran defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea, McKnight has 18 tackles and eight stops for loss this season. McKnight's eight tackles for loss this season ranks fifth in the Big 12. He has Arizona's second-highest rushing defense grade (82.9) on Pro Football Focus. When McKnight was asked about the difference between the defenses at Arizona and UT Martin, McKnight said, "My role is to make a play." 

"I'm not doing anything fancy," he added. "It's just playing with my techniques, fundamentals and relying on my training. Just being me and playing ball."

McKnight — who is the first-ever UA defensive lineman to wear No. 0 — recently overcame an oblique injury and said, "You're going to be banged up, you're going to be bruised up, but you have to be a badder man to play in a defense like this." 

McKnight, Savea, senior defensive end Malachi Bailey and third-year defensive end Dominic Lolesio, who played in the fourth quarter of Arizona's win over Colorado in Boulder two years ago, are the leaders of Arizona's defensive line with Tre Smith out. 

After this season, the 6-3, 299-pound McKnight, who began his college journey at Appalachian State, is "talented enough (to play in the NFL), because he's so powerful and twitchy."

"He brings an edge to us," said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. "He loves to play football and that shows up. The players feed off that. We have high expectations for his continued progress as a player because I think there's more there, I think there's more plays for him to make."