Pair of Birds Defenders Land On PFF All-Decade Top 101

Cox has been arguably the most well rounded defensive tackle in the league for half of the last decade. PFF, for their part, says he has a slow start to his career. but has been second only to future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald since 2015. The fact that Donald is in the league and has flashy plays in the pass rush despite simply mediocre rush defense, plays against Cox ever getting the proper recognition for his play outside the City of Brotherly Love. Cox was a first-round pick in 2012 and while it would be remiss to say he had a slow start to his career, the young defender was simply a starting caliber player compared to the game wrecker he is now. 367 tackles, 48 sacks and 11 forced and recovered fumbles since he entered the league is also not necessarily eye catching, but Cox is routinely double-teamed and often triple-teamed when injuries hit the defensive line. A player who had a truly slow start to their career is defensive end Brandon Graham. The 2010 first-round pick bounced between defensive end and linebacker and did not see more than six starts in a season until 2015. Fans wanted him out until he became a top DE in the league and had a game-changing play in Super Bowl LII. He enters the list at 42.