STRENGTHS
Lawrence is a tall, strong, fluid athlete. He has those long strides that make it very difficult for defensive backs to keep up with him despite the fact they may be faster. He has the athletic talent to adjust to the ball in the air and the excellent hands to catch those acrobatic, contested and difficult passes. Lawrence does a good job blocking for his teammates. He is a pass-catching machine in the red zone and will move the chains on third downs but what he brings with him is the ability to catch the deep ball in the air, above his defender when everyone in the stadium knows that the play is going to him. Lawrence is a clever and cagy route runner, using his size when he needs to but mostly, using his long legs and long strides to his advantage also. If a team is looking for a receiver to build your offensive passing game around than Lawrence should be on that team’s raider for sure. He as talent, that reminds me of Buccaneers Mike Evens.
CONCERNS
Lawrence has been hurt a lot, and although he has played with some injuries his medicals will be the one issue that will hold teams back from selecting him as high as I have him rated. He only played a few games this year for Georgia after transferring from Miami. That being said, he is the type of player that made the hair on the back of my head stand up the first time I saw him catch the ball.
BOTTOM LINE 2.64
The team that selects Lawrence might have to Red Shirt him for a year and get this kid healthy. Then after that happens he will, of course, go through a learning phase and a competition level phase, and that could set him back a bit too. Of course, during all of that time, you have to hope he doesn’t get another injury that slows his future progress. Of course, if he does get injured at the next level you might not see this kid hit the field in his first contract years. Lawrence has talent like the Buccaneers WR Mike Evans. Mike was selected in the first round but he wasn’t injured and we had a normal Draft process that year so the medicals on Mike were completed. Add to that, the talent at the receiver position in this draft and you can see what Lawrence is up against. As far as I’m concerned if, his ankle injury that kept him off the field for most of the 2019 year for Georgia, is not a chronic issue than selecting him as early as the first round would be a given. But this year everything is in flux so let’s take a hard look at what most teams are looking at if they want to select Lawrence. First of all, there is a lack of production and more than one injury that cannot be confirmed how they will affect his play in the future. That being said, Lawrence does have the size, strength, hands, and overall athletic talent to move the chains, catch the deep ball, and be a weapon in the red zone. You do the math and come up with a round you would select Lawrence in. Remember, if he is healthy, he has the potential to be the Offensive Rookie of the year. I’m on record here and I say second round.
