Players can overcome being slow. Hase and Mundy are good examples. But those two excelled at a part of the game that happens while players are more or less stationary. They were also exceptionally talented at reading the play and delivering the ball to open players.
As a CHF/CHB, it is helpful to be able to create space against your opponent, or close that space as a defender. Cox has done a good job to build his tank so that he can run all day, but his closing speed is not great. I think that limits him as a backman. I suppose he could play the Johnno role, but Johnno was one of the best in the league in sizing up the outlet pass. I'm not sure Cox is there yet, or ever will be.
As a forward he can get on his bike and push up and down the ground to get himself some space to take the mark, but he's never going to be a leading forward. Again, he could be very useful with the right set-up, but he has limitations.
Put another way, is there a facet of the game that you consider Cox to be superior to Hogan? Cox showed glimpses, but when Hogan was 20 he was kicking 2.2 a game and won the Rising Star on a Melbourne team that was worse than Freo this year.
