During the undrafted free-agency period, the Green Bay Packers managed to scoop up an intriguing yet raw prospect in OLB/EDGE in Brenton Cox Jr. The then-23-year-old had a checkered college career, beginning at Georgia in 2018 and getting onto the field as a true freshman for a very good Bulldogs team.
However, due to a 2019 arrest for possession of marijuana, he was dismissed from Georgia. Still, he found his way to another SEC team, the Florida Gators. Cox played very well in blue and orange, leading the team in tackles for loss and sacks throughout 2021 and the first eight games of 2022 before Florida dismissed him from the program due to an “accumulation of issues.”
These issues obviously hurt his draft stock heading into 2023, as Cox heard 259 players’ names called but not his own. Green Bay took a chance on the talented but troubled youngster, signing him to an undrafted free-agent contract on May 5 and allowing him to earn a job in training camp.
In today’s NFL, no team can have enough viable pass-rushing depth. They kept Cox on the 53-man roster for the entire season, even though the team used a first-round pick on Lukas Van Ness last year and returned veterans Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, and Kingsley Enagbare.
The Packers don’t use their backup outside linebackers like most teams do. Green Bay’s backup edge rushers tend to play quite a bit, as evidenced by Van Ness and Enagbare playing over 40% of total defensive snaps in 2023, making both a considerable part of the game plan each week.
We will likely see more players move around with the change in Green Bay’s scheme after adding Jeff Hafley as the new defensive coordinator. Van Ness played on the inside of the line during his college career at Iowa, and Smith and Gary can also play there. We could see some exotic packages with more than the traditional two outside backers on the field.
The Packers are listing all of their “edge rushers” on the roster as defensive linemen (making for 17 players in that position group) with their change to a 4-3 scheme. The team clearly wants their outside backers to be able to either stand up or play with their hand in the dirt. That could give Cox an avenue to some playing time in 2024, as he has the ability to do both.
There is always the unfortunate nature of football injuries. In the playoff win in Dallas last year, we saw Enagbare leave the field with what was thought to be a torn ACL. However, we learned this offseason it was not torn. He will work his way back, although the Packers could trim his snaps back early to avoid re-injury.
That could be the opening Cox needs to get on the field early in camp and parlay a strong camp into more opportunities on the field. We know he has the support and attention of the general manager.
“I feel like any player should be more ready after Year 1 going into Year 2,” Brian Gutekunst said this offseason.
“He had a really good training camp where he flashed a lot,” he continued. “And really, we stayed fairly healthy in that group most of the year, which really prevented some of those younger guys from getting on the field.”
One player’s unfortunate injury could be another’s opportunity. However, there is no guarantee that the Packers will carry more than four edge rushers this season. With the two available call-ups from the practice squad per game, the team might opt for a pool of a few players to use throughout the season. After all, during the Divisional Round against the San Francisco 49ers, the Packers elevated Keshawn Banks and not Cox due to Banks’ ability on special teams.
If Cox is going to make the roster this season, he will need to contribute on special teams. All of his end-of-the-depth-chart competition has special teams experience, and with a potential roster crunch coming at positions such as quarterback, defensive back, and offensive line, the Packers might not be able to carry a player like Cox, who doesn’t contribute much on special teams — unlike Banks, who was able to total nine special teams snaps across different special teams units in the Divisional Round game. For comparison, Cox played nine special teams snaps all season across the three regular-season games he appeared in.
And Banks is not the only player gunning for the same role as Cox. Some other names to keep an eye on include first-year player Deslin Alexandre, who signed a reserve/future contract with the Packers in January and spent time with the New York Jets and Chicago Bears last season, and Arron Mosby, who the Packers claimed during camp last August and managed to stick around the practice squad all season.
We also can’t forget about the 91st man in camp this summer: international pathway player Kenneth Odumegwu. While raw, the team gets a roster exemption again this season for him. If he can show growth this summer, they might be willing to roll with him as their break-glass-in-case-of-emergency pass rusher.
After playing just five total snaps on defense last year across three regular season games, Brenton Cox Jr. hopes to have a much bigger impact for the 2024 Packers. With a defensive scheme change and more opportunities in training camp, joint practices, and preseason games, it might be the year where all of his talent and potential translates into a regular role on the field. Or his time in Green Bay might come to a whimpering end.
