The New York Giants might be sitting on a gold-mine with Dexter Lawrence:
The New York Giants are heading into 2020 with multiple players that deserve praise, one of them being stud interior defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence. Lawrence started off his career efficiently, playing in all 16 games, tallying 2.5 sacks, 38 combine tackles, three tackles for loss, and nine quarterback hits.
Lawrence is a 6-foot-4, 342-pound man, filling the interior defense and stopping the run at a high-level. Last season, he did miss five tackles, which accounted for 11.6% of his attempted tackles. That number needs to be decreased, but overall, as a rookie, he was fantastic and proved valuable as the 17th overall pick in 2019.
There are a few extremely impressive traits regarding Lawrence, one of them being a deadly bull-rush. While his pass rash moves may be limited and numbered, his elite move is running full speed and carrying his 364-pound body through offensive lineman.
His athleticism and ability to drive his feet and extend his arms leave guards begging for forgiveness. The former Clemson stand out has extremely strong arms, which he uses to job and stab at the shoulder of guards, pushing them off balance and using his power to manipulate their feet/hips. Once you can get an offensive lineman’s weight going backward, it becomes easy to push them right into their own quarterback. His disruption and ability to draw double teams opens up opportunities for success at the outside linebacker position and blitzing safeties.
The major deficiency Lawrence will have to refine year to is the mental aspect of his game. Sometimes he can be late coming off blocks and diagnosing plays as they happen, but that is all part of experience and earning more live reps.
Matt Lombardo of NJ.com spoke with an anonymous general manager about the best players on defense for the Giants, and what she stated dexter Lawrence ranked among them.
“It has to be Dexter Lawrence or James Bradberry at this point. Lawrence is a legitimate run-stuffer up the middle, and Bradberry is a dominant cornerback with good size and ball-skills,†the GM said.
There’s plenty of optimism to go around, but Lawrence has drawn the attention of managers and coaches around the NFL. If he can take the next step in 2020, the Giants will be sitting on a gold-mine.