Will Cox Be ‘Knucklehead’ or ‘Star’ for Packers?

Former high school All-American Brenton Cox wasted chances at Georgia and Florida. Now, he's getting a chance with the Green Bay Packers.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
May 17, 2023 8:30 PM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Brenton Cox was kicked off the team at Georgia. Then, with his spot in the NFL Draft on the line, he was kicked off the team at Florida.

Before the Green Bay Packers signed him as an undrafted free agent last month, outside linebackers coach Jason Rebrovich engaged in some real talk with Cox during the predraft process. Cox squandered his chance at Georgia. He squandered it at Florida. Would he squander what might be his only chance in the NFL?

“I remember when I got a phone list through this process,” Rebrovich said on Thursday. “I called the young man and I said, ‘Hey, man, I don’t want nothing to know about football. I want to know who I’m going to get on a daily basis. Am I going to get this knucklehead that’s gone through this stuff or am I going to get a guy that wants to become a pro and have the opportunity to become a star in this league?’”

Cox had some star power. He had it as a five-star recruit in high school. He had it when he started in the Sugar Bowl as a true freshman in 2018. He had it when he had 8.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for losses in 2021 – a season that included a school-record four sacks against Florida State. He had it in 2022, when he had eight tackles for losses in eight games.

“Watching Brenton coming out – and again, he was highly recruited and there’s a lot of guys who have trials and tribulations through college – the best thing I saw about him is how he is as a player,” Rebrovich said.

The reasons for Cox being booted from two teams have mostly been kept under wraps. At Georgia, he was facing a one-game suspension for marijuana possession. At Florida, he threw a punch in a game against Georgia. In both cases, the dismissals ran deeper than a single event.

“I think that being a football player at the University of Florida is a privilege,” Gators coach Billy Napier said at the time. “There are certainly expectations that come with that. Obviously, he has done a lot of good things for the University of Florida and we wish him nothing but the best, but sometimes you have to make decisions in the best interest of the team. With Brenton, we’re certainly going to do everything in our power to help him.”

That didn’t stop the Packers from taking a low-risk gamble on Cox as an undrafted free agent. With a $9,000 signing bonus, the reward could be big if the former five-star recruit and high school All-American plays and lives like a pro.

One scout, when asked about Cox the prospect and without the baggage, considered him a late-round prospect because he didn’t test well with a 4.82 in the 40 and just two sacks in 2022. While the red flags are impossible to ignore, Cox did stay in school and earned his degree. Napier let Cox test with his former teammates at the Gators’ pro day.

The Packers could use one more impact player at a key position. The team feels good about the projected top four of rising star Rashan Gary – once he’s beyond his torn ACL – veteran Preston Smith, first-round pick Lukas Van Ness and second-year player Kingsley Enagbare.

Beyond that? Cox is joining Justin Hollins, who flashed as a midseason addition, former seventh-round pick Jonathan Garvin, who has been trending the wrong way, former undrafted free agent LaDarius Hamilton and fellow undrafted rookie Keshawn Banks.

“He has a lot of talent but he needs to be pushed, and a lot of guys need that. They need that kick in the rear end,” Rebrovich said. “And the thing about Cox is in the few short days that we’ve had him, he has shown that.

“It’s just got to be consistent, and it’s got to grow with that consistency. And, hopefully, there’s no rolls in there and, sometimes, that happens, but if we can dig him the heck out of it and keep climbing that mountain, you might have an opportunity to have a pretty good player in that kid.”