Last year I got a decent amount of flack from other members of Saints Nation and our readers for getting so totally sold on linebacker Shaq Thompson. I said there was nothing the Saints needed more than a linebacker with legit coverage skills, speed, and a nose for the football, and unfortunately I was right. Lucky for you all this isn’t a time for me to toot my own horn (or bemoan the fact that he is now a Carolina Kitten), but a chance to look at yet another first round prospect for the Saints who also bears the first name “Shaq”. This time it isn’t a linebacker though, its a defensive end.
Shaw Lawson is the best defensive end in this year’s draft in my opinion and it isn’t actually that close. Lawson is the most complete end in this draft who has shown he can play his best against the best competition when he notched two sacks against eventual national champions Alabama. Lawson has a nice balance of both speed and power, and he complements that with an ever growing array of moves. The Saints have several needs in this year’s draft, but on the defensive side of the ball it would be fair to say that nothing would help them more than putting another defensive end opposite Pro-Bowler Cameron Jordan who not only has first round ability, but is also a total package.
Shaq Lawson: DE, Clemson
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 269 LBS
40 yard dash: 4.7 seconds
20 yard shuttle: 4.21 seconds
Strengths:
The interesting thing with Lawson is that he is VERY similar to current Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan. What makes him most intriguing though is how they differ. Like Jordan, Lawson is an excellent run defender and if taken could likely help the Saints become a team that is extremely difficult to run on (which is huge by the way). However, you don’t spend a first round pick on just a run defender, and Lawson isn’t. While he is similar to Jordan, Lawson is much more of a mirror image. They are equal in many ways, but also opposite. Lawson will be a much better pass rusher at the professional level than Jordan is in my opinion, and that is in part due to the fact that Lawson is simply more athletic and fluid than Cam. Lawson projects to be a very good pass rusher (likely never truly great) and an extremely solid run defender. The yin to Jordan’s yang.
A defensive line is a unit in the same way an offensive line is one, but the difference is that individual players attributes allow the defense to stretch the cohesiveness of the offensive line (while an offensive line is designed to work as all one unit). Lawson could be a very similar player to New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, or at least the player he was before he tried to re-enact an acme cartoon. Lawson would give the Saints a player who can demand attention, and who also has both the motor and the ability to extend plays and force the QB to reset (when he isn’t actually getting the sack). This allows Jordan to have the extra second he usually takes to actually sack the QB (Jordan is likely the league leader in ‘almost’ sacks).
The biggest reason to draft Lawson though is that he is so similar to Cam. While I would love to have a dominant pass rusher, what I would love even more is a player who can be there on all 3 downs and be a difference maker in any situation. Jordan is one, but because he isn’t an elite rusher (there are only a few) the best thing the Saints can do is to complement him with a player very similar to him. The best way to build a unit is to play to its strengths. And in Lawson the Saints would gain their much needed additional pass rusher, but they would also further strengthen their run defense (just as vital of a need) by having two players on the outside who teams will hesitate to attack.
Weaknesses:
Lawson is a VERY underrated athlete, and a moves incredibly well for a man of his size. However, 4.7 is 4.7 and Lawson is likely never to develop into a player who will get you more than a dozen sacks in a season. While I think he will be a better player than Galette ever was sooner rather than later, he also won’t likely ever be the pure pass rusher Good Ole Pootie-Tang was. Lawson is definitely a ‘complete’ player, but he isn’t a dominant one. Lawson doesn’t possess elite speed, power, or technique, and while he is very good in all categories he likley wouldn’t be the first defensive end taken in a stronger end class.
The biggest reason for the Saints to pick him honestly might be that after him the drop off is severe (minus Ogbah), and with it being such a major need the team might decide to address that position early and rely on the depth of the defensive tackle class to get them a good player later. Another concern with Lawson is his lack of real dominance at the collegiate level. You could make the argument that Clemson’s defense was so good it was hard for him to dominate statistacally, however he also never really took games over like you would prefer from a first overall pick
The Verdict:
I defintiely don’t have the draft day obsession with Lawson as I did with last year’s Shaq, but I do still find myself hoping the Saints take him. I don’t think Lawson is the best player that the Saints could get at 12, but he might just be the best pick. Due to the synergistic nature of him and Jordan’s abilities I think he’s a great fit for the Saints at a position of great need. The reality is that while I like Treadwell and love Billings, Lawson’s position isn’t nearly as deep in this draft as those two are. If Shaq Lawson is there at 12, and the Saints aren’t able to get someone to trade with them to get more picks (my Billings scenario) then I think he is without question the best pick at that spot.
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