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Giants - Round 1, 17th Pick Overall - Dexter Lawrence, DT

5 years ago :: Apr 25, 2019 - 10:40PM #1
JonahFalcon Posts: 25,531	Dexter Lawrence Clemson DT Prospect Info College Clemson Hometown Class Wake Forest, NC Junior Height Weight Arms 6' 4" 342 lbs 34 3/4” Hands 10 1/2” Prospect Grade 6.19 Should Become Instant Starter How We Grade 2019 Draft Results Drafted by New York Giants Giants Round 1 ‧ Pick 17 Go to Pick 40 Yard Dash 5.05u Seconds Bench Press 36 Reps Vertical Jump -- INCHES Broad Jump -- INCHES 3 Cone Drill -- Seconds 20 Yd Shuttle -- Seconds 60 Yd Shuttle -- Seconds . Clemson Defensive Coordinator Brett Venables has recruited many top-level talents, but Lawrence may have been the most heralded of them all. He was a top-five recruit nationally and was chased by every blue-blood program in the country after being named the North Carolina state Player of the Year by the Associated Press (91 tackles, 21 for loss, 13 sacks) at Wake Forest High School in North Carolina. It did not take Lawrence long to find the field as a freshman, starting 11 of 15 games to become a Freshman All-American by multiple outlets, ACC Defensive Freshman of the Year, and second-team all-conference after posting 79 tackles, 9.5 for loss, seven sacks, and two blocked kicks. He excelled during the team's national championship run, recording two sacks against Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game and four tackles against Alabama in the title game. While his snaps (438 vs. 643 as a freshman) and statistical production (39 tackles, three for loss, 2.5 sacks) were down in 2017, ACC coaches still voted Lawrence first-team all-conference. Lawrence was first-team All-ACC again as a junior, starting 13 games for the Tigers (44 tackles, 7.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks, three pass breakups). He missed the team's two playoff appearances, however, after testing positive for ostarine, a performance-enhancing drug. Lawrence maintained that he did not knowingly ingest the substance. By Lance Zierlein NFL Analyst Draft Projection Round 1 NFL Comparison Shaun Rogers Overview Massive defensive tackle with the size, length, power and relative athleticism to play a variety of positions in either a 3-4 or 4-3 front. While Lawrence certainly has his share of flashes on tape, he's never really turned into the playmaker that many expected him to become after his freshman year. However, many of the best defenses in the NFL have had interior linemen with the traits and power Lawrence possesses. While he has the ability to play in any scheme, he might be at his best as a read-and-react run-stuffer with the ability to stymie running games with his size and force Strengths Enormous frame with intimidating combination of size and power Healthier and much quicker in 2018 Impressive athletic ability for his size Footwork allows disruptive power to travel down the down the line Agility to defeat or recover quickly from cut blocks Possesses booming upper-body power Disengages from single blocks whenever he wants to Able to thwart seal blocks and mangle down blocks that miss the target Has potential to eat double teams and let his linebackers roam free Ball carriers are finished once he gets his hands on them Punishing bull-rusher with leg drive to constrict pocket space Weaknesses Has been unable to equal impressive production from freshman season Average rush talent likely to limit draft value Lacks looseness as rusher to find edges Basic rush counters relatively ineffective More reliant upon size over technique at this stage Gets caved by double teams when he doesn't sink his post Inconsistent hand placement/quickness for early control at the point Occasionally shortcuts flow to the ball causing him to lose his fit
5 years ago :: Apr 25, 2019 - 10:43PM #2
JonahFalcon Posts: 25,531	www.sbnation.com/nfl/2019/4/5/18293395/d... Dexter Lawrence won’t get a ton of sacks for the Giants. But he WILL run through people The New York Giants picked Dexter Lawrence 17th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. Here’s what Stephen White had to say about the Clemson defensive tackle ahead of the draft: Dexter Lawrence is a mountain of a man at 6’4 and over 340 pounds. At that size you might expect him to be strictly a nose tackle. You would be wrong. It’s true you would never mistake Lawrence for a smaller, quicker defensive tackle like Ed Oliver because Clemson moved Lawrence around quite a bit up front. But I actually got to see him play from a nice variety of alignments. He looked comfortable no matter where he was lined up, and he showed an ability to make plays from several different defensive line positions. Yes, Clemson even had Lawrence lined up as a five-technique on occasion. He may not be able to play out there on the edge full-time, but I wouldn’t see any problem with him lining up there every once in a while on early downs. No matter where he lined up, the thing that jumped out at me was how powerful Lawrence is. The guy was really hard to move, and, on a pretty regular basis, he was able to jack up offensive linemen and toss them out of the way like rag dolls. Not only was Lawrence’s superior functional strength readily apparent on tape, it was also further confirmed at the combine when he notched 36 reps on the bench press. Anybody trying to block that man had better eat their Wheaties, that’s for sure. Lawrence didn’t just overwhelm people with his strength, however. He also had good technique and generally did an excellent job of getting good hand placement and full extension with his arms while taking on blockers. That allowed him to use those almost 35-inch long arms to keep offensive linemen off of him while he located the football. As powerful as he is, his game is more than just that. As a run defender, you couldn’t ask for much more than what I saw Lawrence do in those four games of his that I watched. I was particularly impressed with how often Lawrence was able to physically dominate centers when they tried to block him on counter plays away. To briefly explain again, when a guard has to pull to the other side of the center to block on any kind of counter play, the center usually has to “block back” on the defensive lineman who was lined up in front of that guard. That is to prevent that defensive lineman from being able to follow behind the pulling guard and wrecking the play before it gets started. Usually these are relatively easy position blocks for the center. He isn’t meant to come off and try to drive the defensive lineman off the ball, after all, but rather he just needs try to make quick contact to keep the defensive lineman from getting too much penetration. After that initial thud it’s usually just a matter of the center staying between the defender and the direction the guard is pulling. I marveled a few weeks back about how Quinnen Williams was able to defeat some of those “back blocks” with quickness and and acceleration. Well, Lawrence was able to defeat them with power instead. It was remarkable to see him shoving those centers back and then coming off on the front side of the play to make the tackle. He did this in different games and against different centers, so I’m going to go ahead and say he will probably be able to do that on the next level from time to time, too. Power wasn’t the only thing Lawrence brought to the table when he was defending the run, however. His lateral quickness was also on full display in the four games I watched. Opposing offensive linemen would be so geared up to try to blunt Lawrence’s might that he was able to make quite a few of them completely whiff when he stunted sideways instead. His success moving laterally is also something that I think will transfer well to the NFL for him. So many blockers are going to be all hyped up to try to block his power that when he runs a stunt, they will be like two ships passing in the night. Lawrence isn’t a speedy guy, but he busts his butt out there. Lawrence is one of the better 342-pound athletes that you will ever see. He might not be straight-line fast, but the guy’s athleticism really surprised me a few times. I can see value in Lawrence as a run defender all up and down the defensive line, especially on early downs. In a 3-4 defense, he would be able to play the run well anywhere from a five-technique to a zero nose, and his team could move him around on any given play. In a 4-3 base defense, he could be a strong defensive end, a three-technique, or a cocked nose on any given play, as well. Imagine being a tight end and looking across at you at Lawrence in six-technique knowing you have to base block him all by yourself. Nightmare fuel! I also want to note that even though Lawrence is a certified heavyweight, he still gets his hustle on. It was great to see him, at his size, busting his ass down field to get to the ball. His motor will certainly help him get his production up in the pros. Lawrence can still make an impact, even if he won’t ever rack up the sacks. Of course, where Lawrence is lacking is with his pass rush. That isn’t to say he didn’t get any pressure in four games, but I don’t think anyone who has actually watched his tape believes that pass rushing is his strong suit right now. There were some flashes to be sure, but it just wasn’t consistent enough. He certainly had the opportunities to rush the passer from different spots, but at the end of the day he still only ended up with one sack and three hurries in four games. I will say that his bull rush when he had one-on-one opportunities, especially against centers, was remarkable. He was definitely able to use that power of his to get push back into the pocket pretty well in those situations. Early on in his career, pushing the pocket with power moves is surely where he will make his money as a pass rusher. With a big, strong guy like Lawrence, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Arm-overs, cross chops, and rip moves are nice, but when you can run through people, you run through people! He just needs to polish up his escape moves off of his power rushes so he can start converting those bull rushes into pressures. [more at link]