I think eventually, we're all going to love the cox. Talked to a guy who saw him play a couple of times and says he's a beast. Invites a lot of people to I-Hop. al. I am a gay twerker that has no balls!!!! I also have no idea how to use the quote function to post stories, so I annoy the piss out of others. I like male genatalia in and around my mouth.
Finding a high-profile fullback is no longer a key piece of every recruiting class around the country.
A lot of spread teams rarely use the position any more. A few don't use a fullback at all.
Auburn's hurry-up, no-huddle offense bucks that trend. Landing Chandler Cox, the nation's No. 2 fullback prospect and an early enrollee, was a key priority for the Tigers' 2015 signing class.
"It's very important," Tigers coach Gus Malzahn said. "I've said before, that's like another quarterback. We give that position a lot of flexibility. You saw that with Jay Prosch and the impact he made just in one year."
Invoking the name of Prosch is no small matter for Malzahn.
Prosch, who just finished his rookie season with the Houston Texans, played a key role in the overpowering rushing attack Auburn rode to the 2013 SEC title and a national championship appearance.
A powerful 250-pound steam-roller, Prosch was effective between the tackles, but Malzahn also used him on the perimeter as a personal protector for Nick Marshall on the zone read and a lead blocker on sweeps. Without Prosch leading the way, Auburn's perimeter running game simply wasn't the same in 2014 as tight end Brandon Fulse tried to make the transition to blocking back.
Making Cox a recruiting priority indicates that the Tigers want a natural fullback for that role moving forward.
"Very versatile, and he's going to play our 3-back position," Malzahn said on Signing Day. "He played a very similar position in high school. He is one of the better all-around football players in the entire country, we felt like. He really fits our offense well."
Cox was looking for an offense that still valued a true fullback.
Auburn used Fulse almost exclusively at the 3-back spot last year, and the outgoing senior played an average of 35.5 snaps per game last season, or about half of the Tigers' total snaps on offense. A true fullback/H-back like Prosch would likely play even more.
"I just like the crazy offense, crazy formations," Cox said in a video produced for Auburn's National Signing Day show. "I like it because they use the H-back, a guy like me, and a lot of teams don't use guys like me anymore in the basic spread offense."
A 6-foot-2, 225-pounder from Apopka, Florida, Cox still has a lot of work in the weight room left to match Prosch's powerful physique.
With that in mind, Cox enrolled early, getting a head start on both learning the offense and working in Auburn's strength program this spring.
And Cox, who racked up nearly 3,000 yards and rushed for 21 touchdowns in high school, might be better-suited to playing a receiving role and handling the ball than Prosch, who caught five passes for 95 yards and a touchdown in 2013.
"Chandler's a very tough, physical guy that can really block, he's got wide receiver-type hands, his high school coach played him at running back, played him at quarterback, so he can run the football," Malzahn said. "He's old-school. You turn on his highlight film and the way he blocks, he runs through people. He'll fit very good in Auburn-type football."
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