5 2021 NFL Draft prospect fits for Cleveland Browns: Week 11

3. LB Jabril Cox

Cox was a fantastic player for the North Dakota State Bison over the past two seasons, and transferred to LSU in order to prove he could keep up that level of play in the best conference in college football. He’s been a bit up-and-down through five games, but it looks like he’s starting to adjust to the competition.

He was thrown into the fire in Week 1 against Mississippi State, as K.J. Costello threw for over 600 yards in what is definitely the biggest outlier of the college football season thus far. Costello didn’t have much success targeting Cox, however, and threw a pick-six to the LB in the second quarter.

Cox has everything you could want in a modern NFL linebacker; elite size at 6-foot-4 231 pounds, excellent athleticism, a good feel for coverage, and instincts against the run. He has 31 tackles, four and a half tackles for loss, and one sack thus far, and continues to increase his stock each week.

He is just about as prototypical as one can be, and it would not be a surprise to see him end up as a first-round pick if he shows enough development. The mental part of the game is where he needs to improve the most, and he’ll need to show that throughout the rest of this season.

He will play at this year’s Senior Bowl, which is another chance for him to prove himself against top competition. The Browns apparently love LSU players, so pairing Cox with former LSU linebacker Jacob Phillips seems like a perfect fit.