The front 7

[Boltjolt]

Wood, if Lawrence, Tillery, Jones and Wilkins are all there at #28, which one do u pick?

Um Wilkins, but really he won't be there.

[wu-dai clan]

Wood, if Lawrence, Tillery, Jones and Wilkins are all there at #28, which one do u pick?

Wilkins.

[wu-dai clan]

Pot ?
Overweight ?
Terrance Cody ?

Three strikes.

Check your facts.
This isn't my final decision anyway.

[blueman]

Jernigan, anybody?

[MasterOfPuppets]

...If you get the guy who was unstoppable as a freshman, we have the best DT on the roster since Norman Hand or Reuben Davis...

mmm, Jamal was better than those two

[Steve]

Lanier was 286 at the beginning of last year. Where is he now? I don't see him at DT at 286.
Where is Perryman in the equation? Do you resign him?
TT said last week that K. White is not only a Will...
I like the idea to test JJ at DT with Philon and Square.

There are plenty of DT who play at about 290. That is really no different from 286. And before you dismiss him, he played most of a season at DT for the Redskins. It's not like we are asking him to stand in vs a lot of run-oriented offenses that are going to pound the ball straight at him 50 times a game. No one in our division does that. If Lanier plays at DT, he is going to be a rotational player, spending more of his time on passing downs/distances than the obvious run downs.

I don't want tog et caught up in semantics, Lawrence has a lot of upside and can be very good, but he might also be a huge bust. I would be a lot happier with him if he was a more productive player. 1 year of production at the wrong end of the production spectrum is not a good sign. I just wouldn't completely dismiss him at this point until you get a good long look at the whole class of DT.

I heard TT say that White is not only a Will. TT didn't say anything about letting a TE pound him into bits either. OTTO and LEO are the comparable positions in our D, not Will and OTTO. Will and OTTO are polar opposite requirements. At some point we have to have another real OTTO to play the end of the line vs 2 TE in the goalline, which is why I think Emmanuel will be back (and he is a good ST guy).

You have to look at White's skill set, he is a run and hit player, not a stack and shed player. No one who is sane is going to let White line up over a TE and ask him to control theTE on the down block or to steer the release and be physical. White can cover TE and RB, but he isn't going to win those battles by hand fighting at the line with TE.

I think what he was referring to is using White at Will on run downs and Mike on passing downs in the dime. Emmanuel, Perryman and Brown have been used that way in our dime packages, which is our primary personnel group. If White can stay healthy, they will use him at both the traditional LB spots. But as far as a depth chart, there are too many permutations and combinations at this point to both with that. At this point, unless you know who the other LB are, you are just guessing.

I know people like TIllery at the 3 tech spot, but I can see that he might play NT for us. He is high cut, but he plays with excellent leverage. He lacks the great chase down speed, and doesn't have great quickness, so he might be in the mix. But we play one of our DT as a 3 technique almost all the time. Our "other DT" does line up as a 3 technique on passing downs. We used Phillon and Liuget together a fair bit on 3rd and longs, early in the year. With Ingram and Bosa being able to move around, it may mean guys like Square and Lanier, who can play goalline and run down DE, then slide inside to play DT are a bit more valuable. If you are more confident we will see a lot more passing downs, then you might want to go get Nwosu/Ingram types as backup LEO and OTTO types.

[Steve]

DL : J. Bosa - J. Jones - D. Lawrence - M. Ingram
LB : U. Nwosu - C.J: Mosley - K. White

Nice alignment for 15% of our defensive snaps. Another 10% in the goalline and short yardage situations.

Then the other team will bring 3 or 4 WR for the other 75% snaps, one or two of the LB will come off in place of a Demond King and probably Adrian Phillips. Mosley is one of the best LB in the NFL, but he can't cover anywhere near as well as Phillips or King.

Oh, and singing Mosley eats up all our cap space so that he is the only FA we can sign, including our own players.

[Maniaque 6]

DL : J. Bosa - J. Jones - D. Lawrence - M. Ingram
LB : U. Nwosu - C.J: Mosley - K. White

Looks good to me. Replace Mosley by Perryman and you have Emmanuel and Brown as backups.
If Jones and Lawrence can do the job at DT, Philon and Square can complete the squad.
#1 defense next year?

[blueman]

Nice alignment for 15% of our defensive snaps. Another 10% in the goalline and short yardage situations.

Then the other team will bring 3 or 4 WR for the other 75% snaps, one or two of the LB will come off in place of a Demond King and probably Adrian Phillips. Mosley is one of the best LB in the NFL, but he can't cover anywhere near as well as Phillips or King.

Oh, and singing Mosley eats up all our cap space so that he is the only FA we can sign, including our own players.

Understood.

But Mosely >>>>>> Perryman/Pullard. How much exactly is that worth? Worth cutting TB and even Addae to make room? I think it will never happen but damn why not??

[beachcomber]

agree that Emanuel is a useful player, and.... might not be back next season.

and do think that Dex is gonna be good, and very unlikely he is anything close to a bust.

also think JJ is much more a 3T than NT.... dude gets in the offensive backfield.... (we need someone who commands a 2x team)

[Steve]

JJ has been a 3 technique his entire career. But some of that was him being next to BJ Hill (NC State), who is more of an NT than JJ is. He is not the kind of overpenetration type, twitchy gap shooting guy as a 3 technique. He is more a guy you cannot get out of a gap once he gets in it type of player. As TT said in his press conference after drafting him, he thought he could play more than just 3 tech, and I think so too. If nothing else, we do play a lot of the double 3 tech DT as part of our rush line.

If Dexter Lawrence is going to be so great, why has he coasted through the last 2 years on one of the best DL in college FB? He has a lot of ability, but I don't think he can just turn it on any time he wants. He may think that, but history has loads of planet people who can't. If he wants to be a success, he is going to have to bust his ass, which is clearly something he has not done at Clemson. I think the bust potential is a very real part of his makeup. The pot thing is also a thing that does not speak well of him. IF he is telling the truth that he didn't do it (kinda a big if), then it could be a contact positive. But even that doesn't speak well of his character. If you really want it, why are you risking your future being around people who do stuff like that? I think someone will take him way ahead of us anyway, but I am not sure I want him in the 1st. he might be a value pick in the 2nd, but in the 1st he is a risky move given his track record. Besides, if he continues to play like he did in Clemson the last 2 years, he doesn't require 2 college OL to control him, let alone 2 pro OL.

[wu-dai clan]

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.