Chiefs Film Room: Shaq Lawson would immediately contribute

Limiting Factors

So we’ve seen Lawson is proficient in both in the passing and rushing game. His solid all-around game is perhaps his biggest strength, but also the reason he could slide to the end of the first. He’s good at a lot of things, but excellent at none. Some teams, like the Chiefs, will see this a sign the guy can come in and immediately contribute. Others will take this and conclude that Lawson doesn’t have a great chance at becoming an elite pass-rusher. The first knock I see on him is his explosiveness, or lack thereof:

When watching the current Chiefs front-seven, guys like Dee Ford and Jaye Howard immediately jump out because of how explosive they are off the snap. The opposite is true with Lawson, he’s quite slow to get out of his snap and he doesn’t possess the athleticism to blow by a tackle around the edge.

Lawson also has problem with keeping his pad level low when trying to get around the edge. He’s often fairly upright when trying to get around the edge, which makes the job of the tackle easier by giving them larger target to get their hands on. Being able to consistently keep his pad level low will allow him to better utilize his strength, and help compensate for his lack of quickness.

Let’s end with a couple of quick notes:

• He was asked to drop into coverage a few times in college. To his credit, he didn’t look completely lost in space which was good to see when trying to project him as a 3-4 OLB in Sutton’s system.
• He left quite a few sacks and tackles for loss on the field because he failed to wrap up and finish the play. Tackling is something that his future NFL coaches will no doubt get on his case about in camp.
• Considering he’s a high-motor guy, it was not too surprising to see him get a little bit gassed towards the end of games. This is the downside of rarely giving up on a play. Hopefully, an NFL training camp will get that conditioning all squared up.

Lawson’s jack-of-all-trades, master of none style of play could be seen as a deterrent for some teams. But it’s exactly why Dorsey should jump at the chance to draft him should he be available when the Chiefs go on the clock. While he may not have the athleticism to develop into an elite pass rusher, getting a Tamba-esque player to learn from Tamba himself is a move that would pay dividends now, and in the future.