Former Tiger Tabbed as Underappreciated NFL Star

CBS Sports spotlighted an underappreciated player on each NFC team , and named one Clemson pro among those undervalued NFL stars.

For the New York Giants, former Tiger defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was pegged as that “undervalued” or “underappreciated” player.

“Regardless of the contract, these players continue to perform week in and week out and play a massive role in leading their teams to victories,” CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr wrote. “The NFC has a few players who outperform their contracts (whether it’s on a rookie salary or not), resulting in them being “undervalued” or “underappreciated.””

Here’s what Kerr had to say about the 6-foot-4, 340-pound Lawrence, who collected his second consecutive All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors last season:

Lawrence is one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL and the Giants’ best player. A Second Team All-Pro for the second consecutive year, Lawrence had 4.5 sacks and 21 quarterback hits last season.

Those numbers don’t tell the whole story. Lawrence got to the quarterback as an interior pass rusher, finishing with 65 pressures and a 15.3% pressure rate (both career highs). He was tied for fourth in the NFL among interior defensive linemen in pressures and pressure rate, as well as being tied for sixth in quarterback hits.

One of the game’s elite interior linemen, Lawrence is in the first year of a new four-year deal. He has a cap hit of $14,575,776 this year.

Lawrence is now entering his sixth NFL season after being selected by the Giants in the first round (17 ^th overall) of the 2019 draft. He has racked up 266 total tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 21 sacks in 80 career games (73 starts) thus far in his NFL career.

Prior to establishing himself as one of the NFL’s best at his position, Lawrence completed his three-year Clemson career (2016-18) with 162 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 43 quarterback pressures, five pass breakups, a caused fumble and three recovered fumbles over 40 games (36 starts). The two-time national champion was a three-time All-ACC selection and a first-team All-American in 2018.

–Photo courtesy Kevin R. Wexler / USA TODAY NETWORK

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