Just how dominant is Fletcher Cox?
Fletcher Cox is arguably the best player on the Eagles roster and is one of the best defensive tackles in the league. But beyond that, just how special is he and what is his ceiling? Well I think his ceiling is limitless. He is a Hall Of Fame caliber talent.
Overview
Fletcher Cox is a 6’4″ 300lb 25-year-old Defensive Tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was initially drafted by the Eagles to play in a 1 gap 4-3 system as a DT, but for the past 3 years he was playing out of position in a 2 gap 3-4 defense. The 2 gap system tried to limit Fletcher Cox’s ability to get in the backfield, yet he still did it on a consistent basis and even managed to get 9.5 sacks in 2015, including a dominant 3 sack performance vs the New Orleans Saints. Now with Schwartz in town, he will finally be back to the beloved 1 gap 4-3 defense.
Run Defense
Fletcher Cox is a special run defender. At 300lbs he has tremendous size and is difficult to move. He also has tremendous strength and large powerful hands. If left 1-on-1, he will win almost every time, and even when being double teamed it’s still a headache to block in the run game.
First up, lets look at his ability to shoot gaps and get into the backfield. On this play you can see his excellent burst which allows him to shoot through the gap, while also using his strength to knock back the Guard. Unfortunately he was unable to make the play, but this was still a great look at his ability to shoot through gaps.
This play is an incredible show of strength by Fletcher Cox. He is being double teamed by an Offensive Lineman and a Tight End. Yet he is still able to keep his footing and stay with the play. Then at the last moment, he pulls the Tight End out of the way with ease and makes the tackle. This is an incredible show of strength, and shows the power that Cox has.
One thing is for certain, Tight Ends are not blocking Fletcher Cox. Fletcher Cox easily pushes the tight end out of the way and gets the tackle on the running back.
Fletcher Cox absolutely dominated Richie Incognito all game long. But this was the play of the game for Cox, who beats Incognito the second the ball is snapped with his incredible burst. As usual, Cox does a phenomenal job with his hands of batting down the blockers arms. This is what Cox does best, using his giant hands to knock down opposing lineman out of the way. He then chases down the speedy Lesean McCoy for the huge 10 yard loss.
Next I want to showcase Fletcher Cox vs the “Best Line Of All Time”. He lined up against La’el Collins for most of the game, and continually dominated him. La’el is thought to be a mauling Guard, but Cox not only outran him, but also manhandled him all game long. This is an example of Cox using his excellent burst, and powerful arms to push Collins out of the way.
Last but not least, his ability to shed blocks is effortless. He is phenomenal with his hand placement, taking advantage of leverage, and is just a very intelligent football player. This play he reads the play, then as soon as he sees the running back take off with the ball, simply disengages and makes the tackle. He makes it look so easy. That’s how you know you have a good player on your hands.
Pass Rush
Fletcher Cox isn’t just a dominant run defender, he is also a dominant pass rusher as well. He uses his unreal combination of size, strength, and speed to wreak havoc for any and all offensive lineman trying to block him. This often causes teams to double, triple, and in the patriots case, quadruple team him. Even when being doubled he still creates havoc. The scary thing is he is still somewhat raw as a pass rusher. The fact of the matter is Cox wins off of his combination of strength and speed alone on many occasions. And he can still add plenty of more pass rush moves! He can win by simply overpowering you, running right by you, or using a combination of both. On top of that he is a versatile pass rusher. He can rush from the interior as a DT, but also showed the ability to be an effective edge rusher. Defensive lineman as big as Fletcher Cox should not be able to rush the edge the way he does, he is simply an athletic freak.
Lets start off with his interior pass rushing skills since he will in fact be playing 4-3 Defensive Tackle. On this play he completely dominates the Left Guard. He gets a great get off from the snap of the ball and gets on the inside and just uses his strength to leverage him. And not only that you can see his overall athleticism overwhelms the Left Guard as well. This is what makes Cox so deadly, his combination of strength and speed.
The Patriots game was perhaps Cox’s best performance of the year. He was flat out unblockable. I could show you a dozen plays from this game, but I’ll just show you this one particular play. This play Fletcher uses his hands really well, and simply side sweeps the Guard out of the way. This is something that Fletcher Cox does very often, because of his large powerful frame. He easily moves people out of his way.
This next play is one of my favorites because it shows just how good of an athlete Cox is. He is lined up as a stand up linebacker in this play, and quickly shoots the gap, and cleanly beats the LG. For a 300 pound defensive lineman this is very impressive.
This will be the last play I show of Fletcher rushing from the interior. He is lined up over the Center but he will be going against Right Guard Richie Incognito. Richie Incognito was one of the best lineman period in 2015, and Fletcher Cox “Stole his lunch money” all game long, as mentioned earlier. This play is a great example of Fletcher’s most effective move, which is to club the opposing lineman with his giant arms and hands. He is so powerful that he is always knocking players over with this move, and even against an elite player such as Richie, it still works to perfection. Then after Cox uses his club move, he gets to Tyrod Taylor in a hurry thanks to his unreal speed.
The most impressive thing however, is Fletcher cox’s ability to not only rush from the interior, but also rush from the edge as well. He is not a true edge rusher by any means, but the fact that he can at 300 pounds is incredible. It also shows the kind of versatility that he has as a pass rusher. On this play he gets a tremendous get off, and converts speed to power to near perfection. The left tackle was manhandled on this play.
However, he can do more than just convert speed to power. He can also bend the edge. On this play he uses his strength to create some separation between him and the Right Tackle. He then uses his speed to get around the edge and shows good bend to get around the blocker and make the sack on Kirk Cousins. A very impressive play for a 300 pound man.
Conclusion
Fletcher Cox is a special player that is as dominant as any player in the league. Some people might say “He’s the best defensive player not named JJ Watt”. Well, I think he deserves to be mentioned in the same breathe as Watt. Is he better than Watt? Nope. But, Fletcher Cox is a freak of nature. He put up 9.5 sacks in a 2 gapping system. In a 1 gap 4-3 system, he could end up having as many as 15 sacks. As a player, he has a complete game. In the running game he is a force that can take up double teams and still make a living in the backfield. His size, strength, and aggression makes him almost impossible to block 1-on-1. As a pass rusher he is a versatile pass rusher who can rush from the interior, or on the edge. He utilizes only a few moves, but utilizes them to near perfection. If he can expand his arsenal there is no telling how good he could become. At the end of the day he could end up being the next Reggie white if he continues his level of play and development.
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