Why Carl Lawson Can Be 2017 NFL Draft’s Top Pass-Rusher

The 2017 NFL draft class may be the deepest at the edge defender position since 2011, when the likes of Von Miller, Aldon Smith, J.J. Watt, Robert Quinn, Ryan Kerrigan, Cameron Jordan, Muhammad Wilkerson and Justin Houston all entered the league at the same time.

The coming draft pool is a stark comparison to the 2016 class, which only featured two true college pass-rushers going off the board in the first round in San Diego’s Joey Bosa and Buffalo’s Shaq Lawson, and Bosa might be playing more as an interior player than as an edge defender with the Chargers.

Based on talent alone, it wouldn’t be crazy to claim that there are double-digit draft-eligible pass-rushers who might be first-round picks: Auburn’s Carl Lawson, Alabama’s Tim Williams, Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett, Louisville’s Devonte Fields, Illinois’ Dawuane Smoot, Missouri’s Charles Harris, Boston College’s Harold Landry, Ohio State’s Sam Hubbard, Alabama’s Jonathan Allen, Tennessee’s Derek Barnett and Rutgers’ Kemoko Turay have all generated buzz in the spring before the 2016 regular season.a

For the most part, Lawson and Garrett, both SEC edge defenders, are viewed as the best pass-rushing prospects in college football. For example, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller ranked Lawson as his fifth overall player, the top edge defender in the class, and Garrett as his seventh overall player, his second edge defender in the class, during his May “early big board.”

I agree with Miller’s prognostication of Lawson being the top projected player at the position in the coming draft. Why? There are very few pass-blockers who are NFL-caliber coming out of college football, and Lawson and Garrett went toe-to-toe with two of the three best bookends in amateur sports, with completely different results.

Neither Auburn nor Texas A&M played Notre Dame, which was led by left tackle Ronnie Stanley. But both played Ole Miss, which started Laremy Tunsil—once a potential first overall pick candidate—as its blindside bookend, and Alabama, which had Cam Robinson, whom Miller ranks as the sixth overall prospect in the draft and who is generally viewed as the only blue-chip offensive line prospect in the 2017 class.

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Against those two opponents, Garrett really only made plays in space. Outside of one time that he “got” Robinson, he either blew by an offensive lineman on the line of scrimmage or was washed out of plays. It’s not that his presence wasn’t felt; it’s that how he won isn’t translatable to the NFL.

As well-coached as Nick Saban’s Alabama teams are, there are still miscommunications up front that lead to explosive athletes making more “splash plays” against them than they ever will in the NFL.

Outside of that one sack against Robinson, Garrett’s impact in the passing game came mostly from tipping passes while in throwing lanes when unblocked. According to NFL Draft Scout, a site which does a very good job at projecting measurables, Garrett is in the mid-6’4″-range in terms of length. On paper, he’s very similar to Anthony Barr, the ninth overall pick in 2014 after Jadeveon Clowney and Khalil Mack.

Barr was a long, freak athlete who was a bit of a finesse player, too. With a running back background in his past, the Minnesota Vikings elected to move him to an off-the-ball-linebacker role as a …

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