After waiting for what must have felt like an age to get his first taste of NFL action last season, Brenton Cox Jr. made an immediate impact to show glimpses of his potential. Now, he is quietly soaring at training camp.
It's more than fair to argue that Cox was Green Bay's most efficient and consistent pass-rusher after making his 2024 debut in Week 11 last year. He's proving it was no fluke, highlighted by a head-turning performance at the Packers' Family Night scrimmage on Saturday evening.
"We gotta long way to go & no games have been played. But the Packers put two years into developing Brenton Cox Jr & it sure seems to be paying dividends," writes Wes Hodkiewicz of the Packers' official website.
Brenton Cox Jr. is quietly proving why he is ready for significant role in Packers' pass rush
And it's not the only glowing praise the third-year pass-rusher received.
"Cox just tossed Anthony Belton to the ground in 1x1's," Andy Herman of Packer Report noted from Family Night.
He is repeatedly making plays, perhaps proving the Packers right for believing in their young talent to fix last season's pass-rush problem. Cox is generating pressure but also showing up as a run defender.
Many Packers fans (including this one) feared the team hadn't done enough to fix the pass rush, but GM Brian Gutekunst continued to show an unrelenting confidence in the current roster.
It sounded like stubbornness at the time, but he may have had a point. Cox is turning heads at training camp, while Lukas Van Ness is showing early signs of making a third-year leap like Rashan Gary's. It's only training camp, but it's a promising development.
Cox's standout performances shouldn't come as a surprise. We saw it in the regular season.
The Packers named Cox a healthy scratch for the opening nine contests a year ago. He quickly made that decision look foolish, registering a sack, two quarterback hits, and two tackles for loss when his first opportunity arrived following the Preston Smith trade.
Despite only playing seven games, Cox made 17 pressures (per Pro Football Focus), only three fewer than Van Ness, while tying the former first-rounder with four sacks.
Training camp overreactions can lead to regular-season disappointment, and it's always important to bear that in mind. But it's becoming increasingly difficult to ignore Cox's impact this summer, and he could play a key role in fixing the defense's biggest concern from last year.