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Dexter Lawrence
refer to caption
Lawrence in 2019
No. 97 – New York Giants
Position: Nose tackle
Personal information
Born: (1997-11-12) November 12, 1997 (age 26)
Wake Forest, North Carolina, U.S.
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:342 lb (155 kg)
Career information
High school: Wake Forest
(Wake Forest, North Carolina)
College: Clemson (2016–2018)
NFL draft: 2019 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2023
Tackles:266
Sacks:21.0
Forced fumbles:4
Pass deflections:10
Player stats at NFL.com ·  PFR

Dexter Lawrence II (born November 12, 1997) is an American football nose tackle for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson. In 2015, he concluded his high school football career at Wake Forest High School in Wake Forest. He was ranked as the No. 2 recruit in college football's incoming Class of 2016. [1]

Early years

Lawrence played his entire high school career at Wake Forest High School. In his junior year, Wake Forest had a 15–1 record, losing only the 4A State Championship game against a Mallard Creek team that included Nafees Lyon and Thaddeus Moss. [2] During his high school career, Lawrence was credited with 28.0 sacks, 204 tackles, 6 forced fumbles and 1 interception. [3]

Lawrence was seen as the best prospect to ever come out of the state of North Carolina. [4] He considered multiple schools, including Clemson Tigers, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Alabama Crimson Tide and NC State Wolfpack. In the end, he signed with Clemson. [5]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40 Commit date
Dexter Lawrence
DT
Wake Forest, North Carolina Wake Forest High School 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 340 lb (150 kg) 5.00 Dec 14, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: 5/5 stars    Rivals: 5/5 stars    247Sports: 5/5 stars    ESPN grade: 91
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 2 (DT); 2 (East); 1 (NC)    Rivals: 2 (DT); 2 (Natl); 1 (NC)   247Sports: 2 (Natl); 2 (DT); 1 (NC)   ESPN: 3 (DT); 4 (East); 1 (NC)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Clemson Football Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  • "2016 Clemson Football Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  • "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  • "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 13, 2016.

College career

Lawrence in 2018

In 2016, Lawrence played in 12 games for the Tigers at defensive tackle. Throughout the regular season, he recorded 55 tackles and 5 sacks. The 5 sacks he recorded in his freshman year is a Clemson record. Lawrence beat the previous record of 4 set by William Perry, Ricky Sapp, and Shaq Lawson. Lawrence was subsequently named the 2016 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year. [6] Lawrence was part of the Clemson team that defeated Alabama in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship by a score of 35–31. In the game, he recorded four total tackles. [7] Dexter was ruled ineligible for the 2019 College Football Playoff after testing positive for the banned substance ostarine. [8] [9] After the season, Lawrence decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2019 NFL draft. [10]

College statistics

Clemson Tigers
Season Class GP Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
Solo Ast Cmb TfL Sck Int Yds Avg TD PD FR Yds TD FF
2016 FR 14 22 40 62 8.5 6.5 0 0 0.0 0 1 2 0 0 0
2017 SO 11 13 20 33 2.5 2.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2018 JR 13 15 21 36 7.0 1.5 1 0 0.0 0 3 1 0 0 0
Career 38 50 81 131 18.0 10.0 1 0 0.0 0 4 3 0 0 1

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split Bench press Wonderlic
6 ft 4+12 in
(1.94 m)
342 lb
(155 kg)
34+34 in
(0.88 m)
10+12 in
(0.27 m)
5.05 s 1.76 s 36 reps 17
All values from 2019 NFL Combine [11] [12]
Lawrence in a game against the Washington Redskins

Lawrence injured his left leg during his attempt at the 40-yard dash during the 2019 NFL Combine. [13] Lawrence was selected by the New York Giants with the 17th overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft. [14] The Giants originally acquired the selection as part of a trade that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns. [15]

In Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lawrence recorded his first career sack on Jameis Winston in the 32-31 win. [16] In Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings, Lawrence recorded a sack and a forced fumble on Kirk Cousins in the 28-10 loss. [17]

In Week 1 of the 2020 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football, Lawrence recorded his first sack of the season on Ben Roethlisberger during the 26–16 loss. [18]

During Week 2 of the 2021 season against the Washington Football Team, Lawrence jumped offsides on the final play of the 4th quarter, a Dustin Hopkins missed field goal, which nullified the Washington kick attempt. The Giants would lose 29–30 on Hopkins' successful re-kick, dropping to 0–2 for the fifth consecutive season. [19]

On April 28, 2022, the Giants picked up the fifth-year option on Lawrence’s rookie contract. [20]

2022 was a career year for Lawrence. In Week 4, he tallied 2 sacks against the Chicago Bears, the first multi-sack game of his career, then earned praise from Aaron Rodgers following their comeback victory over the Green Bay Packers a week later. [21] In a Week 15 tilt against the Washington Commanders, he forced an incomplete pass from Taylor Heinicke that turned out to be a key forced fumble which the Giants recovered. The Giants made the playoffs in 2022 for the first time in his career. He finished the 2022 season with 7.5 sacks, 68 tackles, 28 quarterback hits and 2 forced fumbles. As well as being selected to his first Pro Bowl and first All-Pro team.

On May 4, 2023, Lawrence signed a four-year extension with the Giants. [22]

In Week 8 of the 2023 New York Giants season, Lawrence had a recorded a sack, a tackle-for-loss, 5 quarterback hits, and 15 quarterback pressures against the New York Jets, which tied the record for the most pressures in a single game by an interior defender. [23]

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL QBHits PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD
2019 NYG 16 16 38 24 14 2.5 3 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
2020 NYG 16 15 53 30 23 4.0 6 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021 NYG 16 10 54 27 27 2.5 5 11 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
2022 NYG 16 16 68 35 33 7.5 7 28 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
2023 NYG 16 16 53 32 21 4.5 7 21 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 80 73 266 148 118 21.0 28 79 10 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0

Postseason

Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL QBHits PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD
2022 NYG 2 2 12 6 6 0.0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 2 2 12 6 6 0.0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

References

  1. ^ "247Sports". 247sports.com. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  2. ^ "Wake Forest fights hard, falls short in 4-AA championship". December 13, 2014.
  3. ^ "Dexter Lawrence's Football Stats". maxpreps.com. CBS Interactive.
  4. ^ Farrell, Mike (August 9, 2016). "Top 10 North Carolina recruits in Rivals.com history". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  5. ^ "Dexter Lawrence, Wake Forest, Defensive Tackle". 247sports.com. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  6. ^ "Lawrence Named ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year". clemsontigers.com. Clemson University Athletics. November 26, 2016.
  7. ^ "College Football Championship - Clemson vs Alabama Box Score, January 9, 2017". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  8. ^ Murphy, Dan (December 25, 2018). "Sources: Clemson expects to be without Dexter Lawrence, 2 others after failed drug tests". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  9. ^ Hale, David M. (December 27, 2018). "Suspensions of three Clemson players upheld after B samples test positive". ESPN. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  10. ^ "Clemson's Dexter Lawrence to enter NFL Draft". WNCN. January 9, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  11. ^ "Dexter Lawrence Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  12. ^ "2019 Draft Scout Dexter Lawrence, Clemson NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  13. ^ Legwold, Jeff (March 3, 2019). "Clemson DT Lawrence hurts leg in 40 at combine". espn.com.
  14. ^ Salomone, Dan. "New York Giants draft Clemson DT Dexter Lawrence with 17th pick". New York Giants. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  15. ^ Rapp, Timothy. "Giants Draft DL Dexter Lawrence Using Browns Pick from Odell Beckham Jr. Trade". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  16. ^ "Jones sparkles in his start, Giants rally past Bucs 32-31". ESPN.com. Associated Press. September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  17. ^ "Cousins, Thielen lead Vikings in dominant win over Giants". ESPN.com. Associated Press. October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  18. ^ "Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Giants - September 14th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  19. ^ "Dexter Lawrence's offsides penalty on Dustin Hopkins' missed field goal costs Giants in loss to Washington". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  20. ^ "Giants pick up fifth-year option on Dexter Lawrence". Giants.com. April 28, 2022.
  21. ^ Benton, Dan (October 12, 2022). "Aaron Rodgers: Giants NT Dexter Lawrence is a 'premiere player'". Giants Wire. USA Today. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  22. ^ Baer, Jack (May 4, 2023). "Giants NT Dexter Lawrence reportedly agrees to 4-year, $90 million extension". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  23. ^ "Dexter Lawrence tied the record for most pressures in a single game by an interior defender". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved November 5, 2023.

External links