The Underrated Mike Cox

Despite having the best name on the football team, Chiefs FB Mike Cox usually isn’t given much credit for his skills on the field. I can’t blame Chiefs fans for not thinking much of Cox. After watching Tony Richardson for a few years you sort of get a warped sense of  how good a FB should be.

Still, Cox proved to be an under the radar asset last season and his potential started to show, not coincidentally, the moment Jamaal Charles took over the lead back duties.

Cox spent the first half of the 2009 season failing to open up holes up the middle for Larry Johnson but lets face it, a Mack truck  couldn’t open up holes for L.J. last year.

Once Larry bounced, however, Haley started utilizing Mike Cox differently. During the first 10 weeks of the season, Mike Cox had 1 carry of 2 yards and 2 receptions for 12 yards.

In weeks 11-16, which also coincided with the arrival of another FB, Tim Castille, Cox racked up 8 receptions for 67 yards and 2 carries for 3 yards and a TD.

While those numbers aren’t staggering, it is significant offensive production from a guy that usually doesn’t produce at all. Cox’s ability to catch balls out of the backfield will benefit the Chiefs because most of the defenses attention will be focused on Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones.

When the Chiefs did throw to Cox, they often got rewarded for it. Cox had receptions of 16, 13 and 19 yards last season. Only one of his receptions went of negative yards (-4) and only one other went of less than 8 yards (2).  Not bad for a 250 pound full back.

The evolution of the Chiefs offense was slow last season but it did improve. Some of the changes were so small no one really noticed and Cox’s improved numbers are an example of that. Having a couple of playmakers like Charles and Chambers allowed average players like Cox to perform better.

So don’t write off guys like Cox, Castille, Urban, Pope and Cottam as weapons. As long as they can come through when their number is called, guys like Bowe, Chambers, Charles and Jones will make them better.