A national outlet recently highlighted the NFL’s best duos at every position, and a former Clemson standout is part of one of those top tandems.
Pro Football Focus named former Tiger defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, and his New York Giants running mate Leonard Williams, as the best defensive interior duo in the NFL.
“In 2022, Lawrence broke out in a big way, as he and Chris Jones are the only two interior defenders to ever finish with a higher PFF grade than Aaron Donald in a season since he entered the league in 2014,” PFF’s Jim Wyman wrote. “While 2022 was Lawrence’s breakout season, Williams has been one of the most consistently reliable players since he entered the league in 2015, never having a PFF grade lower than 70 in his eight seasons.”
Lawrence certainly did his part last season and held up his end of that elite interior D-line duo.
The 25-year-old was a Pro Bowler and All-Pro last season in his fourth NFL campaign, when he posted career highs with 7.5 sacks, 28 quarterback hits, 68 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
Lawrence was rewarded for his efforts with a well-deserved contract extension in early May, when he and the Giants agreed to a four-year, $90 million deal with $60 million guaranteed.
A first-round pick (17th overall) by the Giants back in 2019, Lawrence has racked up 213 career tackles, 16.5 sacks, 21 tackles for loss, 58 quarterback hits, eight pass breakups and four forced fumbles across his first four NFL campaigns from 2019-22.
The other half of the aforementioned Giants duo, Williams, had very high praise for Lawrence last season.
“(Williams) said he’s seen Lawrence do some things from the nose tackle spot that he’s never seen any defensive lineman ever do in that area,” NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reported before last season’s NFC Divisional Playoff game between the Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.. “He called him a generational player.”
We are excited to announce our second annual Dear Old Clemson event for the freshmen football class. Come out on July 22 at 10 AM at the indoor football facility for a meet and greet autograph session with the scholarship freshmen from the 2023 class. Clemson coordinators Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin will be attendance and speak at the event.
Get your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.
