4 Eagles Starters Who Will Get Benched this Season

3. Fletcher Cox

When a position gets rotated situationally, the distinction of what it means to get “benched” is a little less clear. Whatever you want to call it, I expect to see Cox go from in the starting lineup to out of it as the season progresses.

The 32-year-old Cox is still a terrific veteran presence and valuable interior pass-rusher, but he was something of a liability against the run last season. He had 7.0 sacks and 14 QB hits but only received a run defense grade of 49.0 from PFF.

Cox’ strength has long been his pass rush, but we’ve now seen his run defense drop off in each of the last two seasons, and that’s a trend to take note of.

It also doesn’t help Cox’ case that we have two first-round defensive linemen on the interior to claim playing time.

Jordan Davis is the presumed starter at the 1-tech spot, and Jalen Carter is going to be hard to keep off the field.

Carter can play on the edge, but with how much talent the Eagles have on the outside, the easiest spot to get him on the field consistently is in Cox’ spot at the 3-tech.

I still expect Cox to play a significant rotational role, but that can happen while he also loses his official status as a starter.