Gators 2023 NFL Draft Profile: Edge Rusher Brenton Cox Jr.

Photo: Brenton Cox Jr.; Credit: Alex Shepherd

The 2023 NFL Draft is approaching, marking the peak of the professional football offseason.

As NFL free agency cools down after the initial surge to fill spots of need, teams are solidifying their big boards for the eventful selection period set to take place from April 27-29.

Multiple University of Florida talents are in the midst of preparing for the draft process. Eight of the 11 entrants recently participated in the NFL Combine. They finalized their athletic metrics at the school's Pro Day on March 30.

In anticipation of the selection ceremony, All Gators will provide player draft profiles for the 11 Florida representatives. The series will include the player's history, strengths, weaknesses, scouting report, best fit and most up-to-date Gators-centric mock draft selection. 

Quarterback Anthony Richardson, offensive guard O'Cyrus Torrence and defensive lineman Gervon Dexter Sr. have been evaluated to this point.

After a brief hiatus of the series to focus on the conclusion of the Gators' spring regimen, we return our focus to the draft profile series seven days until the 2023 NFL Draft process begins.

Edge rusher Brenton Cox Jr. is next up.

Player History

Despite being full of potential, Cox's collegiate career can be described as turbulent.

Entering the fold as a five-star recruit out of Stockbridge, Ga., Cox had various collegiate offers to choose from to continue his football career. He elected to remain home, putting pen to paper with the Georgia Bulldogs in the early signing period of the 2018 class.

However, his time in Athens (Ga.) — which included 11 appearances from the sidelines as a freshman — was cut short after Cox was dismissed from the Georgia Football program by Kirby Smart in the summer of 2019.

The Gators, searching for a future replacement for graduate transfer Jonathan Greenard on the exterior defensive line, took a flier on Cox just prior to the 2019 season. He was forced to sit a season due to the SEC intraconference transfer rules but debuted at UF in week one of 2020 against Ole Miss.

Year one brought modest production in a struggling Florida defense. Much of the same output came in year two.

However, a career-high four-sack game against Florida State marked his best performance to date, consistently winning off the edge and creating pressure on Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis in the 2021 rendition of the Sunshine State battle. The contest went so well that it set him up for what many expected to be a breakout campaign in the Gators' new defensive scheme in 2022 under Patrick Toney.

Cox started the year slowly. He failed to post a sack through five weeks of the season and saw his tackle numbers fluctuate significantly during that stretch.

The poor senior campaign, mixed with Florida's sluggish on-field performance, billowed leading into a matchup against the eventual national champion Georgia Bulldogs.

Following a lopsided loss in the third matchup against his former team, Cox was dismissed from the Gators program and began preparing for the NFL Draft. Head coach Billy Napier officially announced Cox's second dismissal in five years that Monday after the team's annual trek to Jacksonville, but didn't cite the reason for the decision.

Cox participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl and was welcomed back to Florida during the team's pro day. There, he showcased his athleticism and keen movement at his stature to a slew of evaluators in attendance. 

He finished his Gators career with 118 tackles, 32.5 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, seven pass breakups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in 33 games.

Strengths

• Size, length and strength
• Athleticism
• Effective bend
• Strong hands
• Speed-to-power pass rush skills

Concerns

• Inconsistency
• Struggles setting the edge to defend the run
• Lack of sack production
• Lack of hand usage and pass rush moves

Scouting Report

Standing at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, Cox presents the prototypical build for a modern pass rusher in the NFL.

While his sack numbers lacked, the Georgia native consistently disrupted the backfield by forcing opposing passers off their spot. Sometimes, that resulted in teammates cleaning up his doing for sacks of their own. Other times, quarterbacks were able to make plays on the move,

Nonetheless, the lack of production on the stat sheet doesn't indicate the impact he made from the BUCK/JACK spot in Florida's defense over the past three seasons.

His highest success rate came when he could utilize his speed and bend off the edge, shrinking his hitbox and working around offensive tackles before they could reload their hands and attempt to engage. A knack for winning off stunts also appeared although those came sparingly.

When he faced more nimble tackles who could combat his fire off the line, Cox struggled and displayed a relative lack of pass-rushing moves in his arsenal. He must add to his toolkit to extend his shelf life and role volume in the NFL.

Cox possesses the strong hands to disengage with opposing offensive linemen upon their initial punch, but he can often fail to use them in favor of a speed-to-power rushing technique that he saw great success with at the prep and collegiate levels.

In three seasons at Florida, Cox flashed immense talent but often failed to produce as the high-level sack man many expected during his career at the collegiate level. He also exhibited lapses containing the run, most often due to an overzealous — oft-undisciplined — desire to crash toward the passer rather than set the edge. 

However, it's a fixable error — with the tackling production to show it's possible to overcome — that shouldn't scare off potential suitors. 

As a result, he projects to be a rotational edge rusher on late downs in his early career, with the ceiling to earn a higher volume of snaps with growth as an edge setter and run defender.

Cox has nestled into a comfortable spot for a day three selection.

Best Fit(s)

Cox will align best in an aggressive 3-4 scheme that allows edge rushers to pin their ears back and get after the passer at a high rate. That scheme is becoming increasingly more common as creating pressure on the high-level quarterbacks of the modern game grows increasingly more important.

He'll serve in a stand-up capacity on late-down snaps in his early career.

However, given the concerns that arise following his dismissal from two SEC programs during his collegiate career, the best spot for Cox may extend beyond the scheme. Entering a well-established culture that presents stability and structure may allow him to hone his skillset in an environment with little opportunity to exhibit those off-field issues.

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots — who he worked with directly during his time at the Shrine Bowl — fit the billing on both accords. There, he could serve as a rotational stand-up rusher, relieving Matthew Judon or Josh Uche. 

All Gators mock simulator selection

Round 5, Pick 150 (trade w/Washington): Atlanta Falcons