Five underrated defensive prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft

Rashard Lawrence – DT – LSU

As was the case for the edge group, or any positional group for that matter, the defensive tackle class in the 2020 NFL Draft has a set of guys that get all of the attention. Even for a while, players who are not considered to be in the top two or three players got their moment to shine during the draft process. However, one such player that hasn’t been talked about nearly enough is LSU defensive tackle Rashard Lawrence.

Despite playing for an LSU Tigers team that recently came off a National Championship victory, the talking surrounding Lawrence has been rather mum. That said, he’s doesn’t display the greatest length of the defensive tackle group, nor is he the most proficient pass rusher.

However, Lawrence displays a lot of strength in his lower half that allows him to play stout run defense. He plays with a relentless amount of toughness and physicality that in some instances allows him to overcome some of his shortcomings.  Lawrence profiles well as one gap penetrator at the next level, particularly in a 3-4 type of system.

While the length concerns, as well as some of his other inconsistencies, surely have impacted his 2020 NFL Draft stock overall. Lawrence played for a team that had many more high profile players than he which surely had an effect.