Florida Football: Top 5 prospects for 2023 NFL Draft
![Florida Gators outside linebacker Brenton Cox Jr. (1) puts on his helmet during warm ups. The Florida Gators scrimmaged in the first quarter during the annual Orange and Blue spring game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL, Thursday afternoon, April 14, 2022. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner]2022Oca Orangeandbluegame](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fcc657a8349b60d8a3634097d82c26610ad4a6e21d8a91699ba09c05c873748a4.jpg "Florida Gators outside linebacker Brenton Cox Jr. (1) puts on his helmet during warm ups. The Florida Gators scrimmaged in the first quarter during the annual Orange and Blue spring game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL, Thursday afternoon, April 14, 2022. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner]2022Oca Orangeandbluegame")
Not many players have the scary potential that Brenton Cox Jr. possesses, but the junior BUCK will be one of the top edge rushing prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft and he hasn’t even scraped the surface of his potential yet.
Transferring in from Georgia before the 2020 season, Cox was a former five-star prospect and one of the top edge rushers in the country. The Bulldogs won the recruiting battle for him, but he decided to transfer to rival Florida after just one season where he recorded 20 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and three pass breakups in 11 games.
Although he has yet to live up to the lofty expectations, he has played fairly well through two seasons and looks like a legit Day 2 prospect for the 2023 NFL Draft.
In 2020, he finished with 42 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks in 12 games and then improved on that in 2021 with 41 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, and eight sacks. He also battled down four passes last season.
One lucky team is going to get Cox in rounds two or three, but I could see him improving his stock to become a first-rounder. He’s that good.