Georgia is on its way to seeing its linebacker depth take a serious hit, as multiple reports indicate a potential end to Brenton Cox's career in Athens. Dawgs247 has confirmed that Cox's name is in the NCAA's student-athlete transfer portal. While that alone is not enough to signal and end to his time with the Bulldogs, the news follows reports that Cox and head coach Kirby Smart agreed to part ways over the weekend.
Cox was a five-star prospect in the Class of 2018, ranked as the No. 23 overall player in the country by the 247Sports Composite. When defensive coordinator Dan Lanning met with reporters on Monday morning, he elected not to respond to questions about expectations for Cox in 2019, deferring those queries to Smart.
Cox appeared in 13 of 14 games as a freshman in 2018, totaling 20 tackles, two tackles for a loss a sack and three pass breakups. He got his first career start in the Sugar Bowl, recording six tackles in the loss to Texas. He was set to be a key piece of a defensive front that's gone through some significant turnover across the last two seasons, losing three and four-year contributors after the College Football Playoff run in 2017 and last year's Sugar Bowl season.
If Cox does decide to leave, it's another loss from the 2018 recruiting class that saw Georgia disrupt Alabama's run of signing day titles. Cox could join Justin Fields as five-star prospects to leave from that top-ranked group, which also included four-star tight end Luke Ford, now at Illinois.
