PFF names Dexter Lawrence among league's top pass rushers
Over the last two seasons, Dexter Lawrence has taken his game to another level.
Following back-to-back second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections, Lawrence was just voted No. 24 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2024, as voted on by his peers.
It should not come as a surprise then that Pro Football Focus named Lawrence among the league's best pass rushers.
PFF recently broke down the best players by pass-rush move from the 2023 season, in which Lawrence found himself at the top of two different categories, starting with center right (as in which direction the player attacked their blocker's leverage).
"The Giants' massive nose tackle has a long track record of pocket destruction, evidenced by his position on multiple of these lists," wrote PFF's Mason Cameron. "The All-Pro interior defender has powerful hands that stun centers with clubs and stab moves, followed by a strong rip or swim to free himself up. When pressing the center's right, Lawrence totaled 10 quarterback pressures, including three hits, the most by any player in the move category."
Lawrence was once again one of the most dominant defensive linemen in the NFL last season.
He registered 4.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss, 21 quarterback hits and two passes defensed to go with his 53 total tackles (32 solo). He did this despite missing one game and playing limited snaps in the final five contests of the season.
Lawrence also recorded 65 total pressures on the season, which topped his previous career-high of 63 set in 2022.
View photos of defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence's career with the Giants.
The second category Lawrence found himself at the top of was "no move attempted", which the analytics site described as "a category generally given to rushes that don't fit cleanly into the other established categories. Included situations can range from a blocker locking up a pass-rusher so no move can be thrown, to a pass-rusher working through a chip block, clean-up, switch or some other form of help blocking that may muddy the waters due to things like miscommunication and split leverage, as well as looks in which they are set and released."
When it came to this category, Lawrence absolutely dominated.
"Given Lawrence's well-earned reputation as an interior wrecking ball, it's understandable that offenses would dedicate quite a bit of attention to trying to slow him down," wrote Cameron. "When faced with help or exchange blocks, the All-Pro produced the league's only 90.0 pass-rush grade, as he produced an incredible 34.8% pass-rush win rate to go along with 41 total pressures."
Here are the top players at each pass-rush move from 2023, as listed by PFF:
- Bull Rush - Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers
- Inside - Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys
- Outside - Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
- Center Left - Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys
- Center Right - Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants
- No Move Attempted - Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants
- Play-Action Fit - Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams
Take a look through Giants in the "Top 100 Players" over the years.
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