Eli Cox has gone from a lightly recruited player at West Jessamine to an ESPN midseason All-American. (UK Athletics Photo)
Kentucky football has had a lot of great storylines during its historic 6-0 start going into this afternoon’s game at No. 1 Georgia with the impact of newcomer Liam Coen (offensive coordinator), Will Levis (quarterback) and Wan’Dale Robinson (receiver). However, don’t overlook the impact of guard Eli Cox, a former West Jessamine High Schools standout who was lightly recruited.
Cox, a redshirt sophomore, played so well in the preseason that it enabled Kentucky to slide Luke Forner, a two-year starting guard, to center to take the spot vacated by Luke Fortner. Cox not only has been a starter in all six UK wins but apparently has been UK’s best lineman according to ESPN.
Cox earned midseason All-America honors from ESPN, the only UK player to do so even though the Cats are 6-0 for the first time since 1950 and 4-0 in the Southeastern Conference for just the fourth time in school history.
The 6-4, 301-pound Cox has helped Chris Rodriguez become the SEC’s leading rusher. Cox has graded at 80.8 percent with 15 knockdown blocks this season. He also has a fumble recovery in the end zone for what turned out to be the winning touchdown against Missouri.
Coaches have described Cox as UK’s strongest player pound-for-pound on the team. In last week’s win over LSU, he graded at 91 percent, led the team with seven knockdown blocks and had 15 blocks at the point of attack while not missing an assignment or yielding any pressures to help the Cats amass 330 yards rushing.
That performance earned him SEC Co-Offensive Line Player of the Week and obviously helped pave the way for ESPN to bestow an even bigger honor on him also.
Big contributions were expected from Coen, Levis, Robinson, and even Rodriguez. But there has not been a bigger surprise — or more consistent contributor — for the Kentucky offense going into the Georgia showdown than Eli Cox.
