Knights said Lucas had moved better over the past fortnight and was on the verge of a breakout game.
"He had 17 disposals last week and he's been such a dead-eye for a long period in front of goal -- he's been amazing like Matthew Lloyd," Knight said at Windy Hill on Tuesday morning.
"When they get it inside or outside 50, you can back them in.
Lucas took six marks inside the Bombers' forward 50 last week but did not feature on the scoresheet. Knights said that performance was atypical.
"He's just had a couple of weeks where he hasn't taken his opportunities and I'm sure that will come because he's so technically sound. It's just a matter of time before he has a breakout game," he said.
"We spoke just before, and I said, he had 17 disposals and plenty of opportunities, and that's the good part for me because potentially he's on the up in regards to getting the ball in his hands.
"If he continues to get the ball in his hands he will convert, which will be great for us."
Knights said the Bombers would persevere with playing Lucas the way he had this season, which had twice seen the goal-kicker start on the bench.
He said the club expected Lucas to shrug off the cobwebs regardless of how he was played, given his experience and renowned ability.
"I don't think we'll alter the way he plays. I think that's probably fair as a coach and player that we discussed three weeks ago that I didn't think he was moving at the level he would like to," he said.
"He's come back from a very serious injury. I've felt that in the last two weeks he's moved a lot better and covered a lot more ground, so his movement patterns are on the up.
"Lloyd had a breakout game against Carlton and I don't think Scotty Lucas is far from having that also.
"Scott is very positive about the way he's going about his footy, so usually players of such high quality have breakthrough games, like Brent Harvey had last week against us.
"You understand players of that ilk and quality will have a breakout game and get their season on track."
Essendon will be forced to make at least one change to replace the injured Hayden Skipworth this week, with Knights confident the Bombers have a myriad of options available.
"Hayden has been pretty integral to our first month. He's played reasonably consistent football so he's going to be difficult to replace," he said.
"Heath Hocking, who didn't play last week and we probably missed him last week with [Andrew] Welsh being out as we didn't have a traditional run-with player in the team, is potentially available.
"Sam Lonergan got some match fitness in the VFL, Leroy Jetta, David Myers and Bachar Houli as well, and also Nathan Lovett-Murray.
"I wouldn't think we'll have a number of changes but all those guys are all in the mix to be selected.
"Potentially we may have two to three changes. It will just depend on the availability of players and we'll work through that today."
