Dexter Lawrence
Dexter Lawrence II (born November 12, 1997) is an American football defensive end for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). 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]
![]() Lawrence at Clemson in 2018 | |||||||||||||
No. 97 – New York Giants | |||||||||||||
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Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Wake Forest, North Carolina | November 12, 1997||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 342 lb (155 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Wake Forest (NC) | ||||||||||||
College: | Clemson | ||||||||||||
NFL Draft: | 2019 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2020 | |||||||||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
High school career
Lawrence played his whole high school career at Wake Forest High School. During his high school career, he had 28.0 sacks, 204 tackles, 6 forced fumbles and 1 interception.[2]
Recruiting
Lawrence was seen as the best prospect to ever come out of the state of North Carolina.[3] 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.[4]
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | 40‡ | Commit date |
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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:![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||||
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) | ||||||
Sources:
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College career
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.[5] 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.[6] Dexter was ruled ineligible for the 2019 College Football Playoff after testing positive for the banned substance ostarine.[7][8] After the season, Lawrence decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2019 NFL Draft.[9]
Professional career
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
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6 ft 4 1⁄2 in (1.94 m) |
342 lb (155 kg) |
34 3⁄4 in (0.88 m) |
10 1⁄2 in (0.27 m) |
5.05 s | 36 reps | |||||||
All values from 2019 NFL Combine[10] |
Lawrence injured his left leg during his attempt at the 40-yard dash during the 2019 NFL Combine.[11]
Lawrence was selected by the New York Giants with the 17th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.[12] The Giants originally acquired the selection as part of a trade that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns.[13]
![](../I/BJ_Hill.jpg.webp)
In week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lawrence recorded his first career sack on Jameis Winston in the 32-31 win.[14] In week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings, Lawrence recorded a sack and a forced fumble on Kirk Cousins in the 28-10 loss.[15]
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.[16]
References
- "247Sports". 247sports.com. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- "Dexter Lawrence's Football Stats". maxpreps.com. CBS Interactive.
- "Rivals.com - Top 10 North Carolina recruits in Rivals.com history". n.rivals.com. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- "Dexter Lawrence, Wake Forest, Defensive Tackle". 247sports.com. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- "Lawrence Named ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year". clemsontigers.com. Clemson University Athletics. November 26, 2016.
- "College Football Championship - Clemson vs Alabama Box Score, January 9, 2017". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
- "Sources: Clemson expects to be without Dexter Lawrence, 2 others after failed drug tests". ESPN. December 25, 2018.
- Hale, David M. (December 27, 2018). "Suspensions of three Clemson players upheld after B samples test positive". ESPN. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- "Clemson's Dexter Lawrence to enter NFL Draft". WNCN. January 9, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
- "Dexter Lawrence Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
- Legwold, Jeff (March 3, 2019). "Clemson DT Lawrence hurts leg in 40 at combine". espn.com.
- Salomone, Dan. "New York Giants draft Clemson DT Dexter Lawrence with 17th pick". New York Giants. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- Rapp, Timothy. "Giants Draft DL Dexter Lawrence Using Browns Pick from Odell Beckham Jr. Trade". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
- "Jones sparkles in his start, Giants rally past Bucs 32-31". www.espn.com. September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
- "Cousins, Thielen lead Vikings in dominant win over Giants". www.espn.com. October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- "Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Giants - September 14th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Sports Reference (college)
- Clemson Tigers bio
- New York Giants bio