DeMarco Murray is an Eagles!! That realization is just beginning to sink into my Bird brain. The NFLN Top 100 Players Poll just named Murray the 4th best player in the league.
But just to keep Eagles fans grounded, the Poll completely ignored the Birds’ emerging star defensive lineman Fletcher Cox.
Fletcher Cox….snubbed again?
Maybe it’s not really a case of snubbing Cox but rather asking another great season from him to build and confirm his name recognition.
If you follow such statistical metrics as put forth by Pro Football Focus (which I often view with a critical EYE), Cox ranks as the fourth highest graded 3-4 defensive end in the NFL.
By the way, Cox’ combined total of QB hurries, tackles, stops, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries in 2014 was second only to J.J. Watt—the guy who ended up being Numero Uno in the Top 100 Poll this year.
Maybe the real issue is Cox doesn’t get a ton of sacks because he plays a 2-gap DE in the Eagles 3-4 system, which requires him to eat up blocks and let his linebackers clean up on the QB sacks.
Even so, Cox ended up with 4 sacks last season.
Cox was also sort of snubbed by the Pro Bowl selection committee last year, too— he was named as a 6th alternate.
The better take on the situation is that Cox, 6-4 and 300 pounds out of Mississippi State, is only 24 years old. He already has three seasons under his belt. He’s gotten better every year. If that trend continues, he will not be snubbed or overlooked again.
Here’s a look at the Top 100 Players list for 2015, courtesy of NFL.com and Wikipedia:
No comments:
Post a Comment