00:00a little sexy Dexy Dexter Lawrence is well being ranked just like all these guys are we talked
00:07about Jamar Chase a little bit ago and where he's ranked where T Higgins is in the NFL wide receiver
00:11hierarchy what about Dexter Lawrence the big splash the 350 pound splash the Bengals made
00:18in April before the draft trading the 10th overall pick for Dexter Lawrence Lawrence fourth in Sports
00:25Illustrated's defensive tackle rankings and I I think that these are pretty pretty interesting
00:31you got Jeffrey Simmons one Jalen Carter two Quinnen Williams three and Dexter Lawrence four
00:37too high too low or just right I certainly think it's too low I think Dexter Lawrence is
00:43the second best probably right now interior defensive lineman in the league and on it but
00:48I'm okay with this I'm okay with this going into next year because of the production last year
00:52this is not blatant disrespect that we saw in the last D-line rankings for Dexter Lawrence that
00:57had him at seventh that is absurd and we reacted to it as we should have with I mean it's
01:03just
01:03absolutely crazy to have him at seven four makes sense you have half a sack last year coming off
01:09a significant injury now which affected the production last season switching teams essentially
01:14traded away from the last team for obviously the 10th overall pick isn't nothing but discarded as one
01:18of the better players in the NFL which isn't something you normally see from people of Dexter
01:22Lawrence's caliber in the league so I think this is fair I do think those other three are also elite
01:28I love Jalen Carter and what he's able to do especially at his age in the league Jeffrey Simmons
01:32I think is no doubt in that number one spot and then Quinnen Williams also traded for a first round
01:36pick last season so they're obviously pretty close together I think those four are in a league of their
01:40own compared to the other interior defensive linemen in the NFL and I expect Dexter to climb that list
01:45this year when the production gets back to what we've seen before in his career but coming off of last
01:49season I do think this is fair probably the floor for where I won't lose my mind probably the floor
01:55for where he won't lose his mind clip that clip that I think we can reuse that multiple times this
02:01is
02:01probably the floor for where I won't lose my mind I agree though in in a big way like fourth
02:08isn't disrespectful it isn't offensive could he be higher should it be higher I think we can debate
02:13that Joe Burrow certainly thinks so the Bengals certainly think so at the same time if you're the
02:17fourth best in the world at something coming off of a down year that's a heck of a year and
02:21that's
02:22what Sports Illustrated noted in these rankings that Lawrence is coming off of a down season by his
02:26standards recording just a half sack as he returned from an injury but he's a top 10 defensive tackle he
02:31also had one of the best seasons of his career in 2024 with nine sacks three consecutive Pro Bowls from
02:3622 to 24 and was previously a two-time second team All-Pro in 22 and 23 look I I
02:42think that
02:44he's someone that you need to be a little bit more productive in the counting stats but you need to
02:51feel his impact and the reason I buy into this Bengals defense a big reason why a 350 pound reason
02:57why is
02:57because Dexter Lawrence should have that impact he should be able to regardless of the counting
03:02numbers should be able to get after the passer and impact the game enough against the run and against
03:09the pass that you feel him down in and down out and that's all the Bengals really that's what they're
03:14looking for and that's what's really rare to find that's what's hard to find is an interior pass
03:19so sure it's why Jeffrey Simmons is number one on this list and I would not debate Simmons being number
03:24one at all I think he's awesome I do and it a big part of that is he commands double
03:30teams and he
03:31can get pressure now the unique thing about him versus a Jalen Carter or Quinnen Williams is his size
03:38is his unique skill set is is the the measurables that go along with winning against double teams
03:46getting after the passer and the pass rush juice he brings he is unique in that there aren't any
03:51none of these other guys are Dexter Lawrence from that standpoint so and we talked about this when
03:57he was seventh on ESPN ESPN's rankings after being first last year there's a realistic path for Dexter
04:02Lawrence to take that leap and be first on this list a year from now it would not shock me
04:07especially
04:08with the offseason work that he's putting in absolutely and I think obviously you need the
04:11counting numbers to be better or hope they will be half the sack isn't going to cut it trading the
04:1510th
04:15overall pick for Dexter Lawrence in this defense but I think the exciting thing about putting that many
04:19resources in a guy in the interior of the defensive line instead of say a Trey Hendrickson or an edge
04:23rusher on the defense to be that guy there's many more ways for Dexter Lawrence to impact the game
04:28outside of sacks than an edge rusher it felt like when Trey wasn't getting sacks when he wasn't finishing
04:33the game which he did a lot he's a great player here for the Bengals defense but it was hard
04:37for him
04:37to impact the game on plays where he wasn't sacking the quarterback I think that's the thing I'm most
04:41excited for about Dexter to have the base of this Bengals defense the star of this Bengals defense be
04:46someone who can not only affect every play in the game right there in the interior of the defensive
04:51line but also make everyone around him better by eating double teams and transferring how the
04:56offensive line is going to have to handle those matchups I think he's just going to be a really
04:59really special player for this team and we talked when he was ranked seventh that if he came in around
05:04there this season then it was probably a bad trade for the Bengals or at least not something that would
05:09project them to where a lot of us are talking about this defense potentially being this season
05:13I think four is not in that same boat obviously you'd like him to get back into that best in
05:17the
05:17league conversation but if we leave this season for the Bengals and Dexter Lawrence is still in the
05:22conversation with with these guys you know Jeffrey Simmons Jalen Carter Quinn and Williams for the top
05:26four interior defensive linemen in the league I think it could still be an awesome season I think coming
05:31out of these rankings you feel much better about Dexter Lawrence in this trade than potentially those ESPN
05:36ones and that's where the discrepancy really shocks me and I think that's where the nuance of interior
05:40defensive line comes in you look at the ESPN rankings and so much conversation of the half a sack
05:46and they bring it up here but keep Dexter Lawrence ranked fourth and that's because of the double team
05:49percentage that's because of the amount of snaps played at nose tackle which none of these other three
05:53except for Quinn and Williams get even close to that so I think Dexter Lawrence not only does what all
05:58these other guys do at a high level but he does it from a unique position that allows him to
06:02really
06:02impact everyone else that's why the Bengals are so okay giving up pick 10 I don't think pick 10 is
06:07being
06:07traded for Quinn and Williams who's ranked ahead of Dexter Lawrence I don't think pick 10
06:10is necessarily being traded for Jalen Carter because of some of the stuff off the field with
06:14him that goes on and Jeffrey Simmons I think is one that would certainly be in that list in a
06:18name
06:19that T Higgins and Jamar Chase threw around early in the offseason but Dexter Lawrence is one I
06:23wouldn't bat an eye at and that's why the Bengals did it and that's why I think it was such
06:26a great move
06:26is because he's such an outlier compared to the rest of the league and what he's able to do on
06:30the field
06:31So
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