Prospect Profile: Clemson DT Dexter Lawrence

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Summary: Lawrence attended Wake Forest High School, where he was named North Carolina’s Associated Press Prep Player of the Year as a senior in 2015 and played in the U.S. Army All-America game. According to Clemson’s website, he was one of the highest-rated five-star recruits in the program’s history.


Lawrence made an immediate impact for the Tigers, sharing team Defensive Rookie of the Year honors with defensive end Clelin Ferrell in 2016. Lawrence also was named ACC Rookie of the Year by media and coaches. As a sophomore, he was a finalist for the Bednarik Award, which honors the top defensive player in FBS.


NFL analyst Lance Zierlein defined Lawrence as a “massive” defensive tackle who could play multiple defensive line positions in either a 3-4 or 4-3 defense. He also noted that he was “healthier and much quicker” during the 2018 campaign and has “impressive athletic ability” for his large frame.


“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,” Zierlein said. “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.”


Click here to read Lawrence’s full profile on NFL.com.


Stacking up: NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks ranked Lawrence as this year’s fifth-best defensive tackle, while The Athletic’s Dane Brugler tabbed him as the class’ seventh-best. Daniel Jeremiah initially put Lawrence at No. 31 in his list of Top 50 prospects but bumped him down to 32 in his post-combine rankings.


Adding it all up: Long before he was sacking quarterbacks, Lawrence was crunching numbers. The defensive tackle, who majored in justice studies at Clemson, attended math camp two summers when he was growing up.


“It was my favorite subject. I was comfortable with numbers,” Lawrence said in a 2017 interview with the Charlotte Observer.