The front 7

[Sgt Schultz]

On December 25, 2018, it was announced that Dexter Lawrence and two other not so notable Clemson players had tested positive for the banned muscle growth substance Ostarine.

At a well put together 6'4"/350#, Lawrence would have absolutely no reason for intentionally comsuming this product.

Based upon circumstantial evidence and the comments of Dabo Swinney, my judgement is to issue a pass on this issue.

It was not the job of Dexter Lawrence to put together game tape that is pleasing to draftniks and pundits alike.

It was his job to anchor the best Dline in NCAA history, to stay at home, and allow others to make splash plays.

Lawrence is mentally strong and good teammate.

He is very big, very wide, very strong and unusually agile.

I project Lawrence to play combo1Tech/3Tech for us, along with Justin Jones and an FA/draftee of several possibilities.

Mebane will give us a few snaps.

My comp for this excellent prospect is Linval Joseph.

I want to select Dexter Lawrence @ #28.

I read some time ago that the coach said he thought the school had inadvertently given the ostarine to the players. Is that still the assumption?

[wu-dai clan]

I read some time ago that the coach said he thought the school had inadvertently given the ostarine to the players. Is that still the assumption?

That would be a very plausible explanation.

[beachcomber]

there are quite a few guys that I would be ok with @28.

and granted, there are things 'bout Lawrence that would prolly make a FO uneasy, albeit there is no argument that if he lives up to the expectations of some that he would be a major league boom to our front four.

first and foremost am a Stidham guy, after that cannot overlook the value of Simmons if he is lingering come 28.

and know Brugler calls him a day three gambit, albeit again do really like what Cajuste brings to the table, 'specially on the intangibles side of things.

and maybe I'm buying into the FS hype, but also think I'd be ok w/the either of Adderly or Thompson.

there are others as well, and.... the bottom line is it's a near 50/50 proposition near the end of the first round.... here's to hoping team Tommy John gets off on the right foot there.

[Steve]

The drug Lawrence tested positive for is often used to recover from surgeries. He has had a series of injuries that have slowed him in the past, so that is still a concern IMHO. The other issue that some of the long timers will remember is that many of the guys that have been caught testing positive will tend to have their bodies break down on them and not be able to recover from injuries. Shawn Merriman is the classic examples, as was Castillo.

The bigger issue with him is still why Lawrence has been underproducing for 2 seasons after being very productive as a wide-eyed freshman. Living in SC some of it seems to be that he was maybe a little lucky as a freshman. Some of the lack of production has also been due to Clemson being ahead by so much that he doesn't always play that much, letting younger players get playing time. But having watched carefully, he does not use his hands very well and has consistent leverage problems. He really hasn't gotten any better, which to me is a real problem with kids like this. Does he think he can continue to cruise through games because he is so talented?

If you draft Lawrence, it is because you think that Giff Smith can mold him into a top DL. He isn't anywhere near there yet, and it is going to take some work to pull that off. He also needs to lose some weight and get really serious about his craft, and that is if the injury thing because of the drug test doesn't cause problems with his durability down the road.

[wu-dai clan]

The drug Lawrence tested positive for is often used to recover from surgeries. He has had a series of injuries that have slowed him in the past, so that is still a concern IMHO. The other issue that some of the long timers will remember is that many of the guys that have been caught testing positive will tend to have their bodies break down on them and not be able to recover from injuries. Shawn Merriman is the classic examples, as was Castillo.

The bigger issue with him is still why Lawrence has been underproducing for 2 seasons after being very productive as a wide-eyed freshman. Living in SC some of it seems to be that he was maybe a little lucky as a freshman. Some of the lack of production has also been due to Clemson being ahead by so much that he doesn't always play that much, letting younger players get playing time. But having watched carefully, he does not use his hands very well and has consistent leverage problems. He really hasn't gotten any better, which to me is a real problem with kids like this. Does he think he can continue to cruise through games because he is so talented?

If you draft Lawrence, it is because you think that Giff Smith can mold him into a top DL. He isn't anywhere near there yet, and it is going to take some work to pull that off. He also needs to lose some weight and get really serious about his craft, and that is if the injury thing because of the drug test doesn't cause problems with his durability down the road.

Your views are to be greatly respected.
I don't think Dexta's moving...at the point of attack, or at the top of my clusta.

[Boltjolt]

Your views are to be greatly respected.
I don't think Dexta's moving...at the point of attack, or at the top of my clusta.

You can still keep your clusta. Dex won't be the only one in it lol. He won't be in mine. I'd rather draft Simmons at 28 than Dex and I'm not for using 28 on Simmons. But I know Simmons will be better than Dex in 2020 when he is healed and every year after.

[wu-dai clan]

You can still keep your clusta. Dex won't be the only one in it lol. He won't be in mine. I'd rather draft Simmons at 28 than Dex and I'm not for using 28 on Simmons. But I know Simmons will be better than Dex in 2020 when he is healed.

Ha. Ha.
You want your clusta ?
You can keep your clusta !

[like54ninjas]

So does boltnut have a nutclusta?

[wu-dai clan]

So does boltnut have a nutclusta?

True story. Mrs. boltnut once made me a custom avi. That's all I will say about that.

[Formula 21]

I read some time ago that the coach said he thought the school had inadvertently given the ostarine to the players. Is that still the assumption?

Why would a school have ostarine laying around?

[Boltsfan70]

I forget why but Dabo said they might have given it to some players be mistake.

[Steve]

Clemson has said that they may have accidentally given some of this to the players that got suspended. I am not sure if that is true or not, but it may be. It's not like making a claim like that will necessarily change too many people minds, and it makes Clemson look bad. It seems unlikely they would do all that if the players are really the ones who screwed up.

And certainly part of why Lawrence has been less productive in the last 2 years is that he has played on what has probably been the 2nd and 1st best DL in college FB, and he has plays where he beats the OL cleanly but doesn't necessarily make the play because one or more of his teammates has already done the same. Another part is that he is the run stuffer of the group, and his deal is to control the line, not necessarily penetrate and go running around looking for sacks.

If you don't like the way he plays, the argument would swing that Lawrence was on a great DL when he was a freshman, and he still managed 6.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for a loss and 62 tackles. His soph and jr stats combined are about equal to that (although he had 7 TFL this season). There are a lot of plays where he still seems to be wired to blockers at the end of the play.

Like I have said before, every time one of these planet player types comes up in the draft, I really try and watch them as a pro, and while everyone mentions the whole George Young thing, there are just so few of them that really turn into great players.