minutemancl Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 (edited) Dexter Lawrence is easily the best interior defender in football this year, and honestly has been for the last year and a half. Ever since Andre Patterson came over with Daboll, Dex has been otherworldly. We have never seen a nose tackle generate the disruption in the pass game that Dex does, while also continuing to be fantastic in the run game. In a lost Giants season, Sexy Dexy is easily the brightest spot. Even in games where he doesn't show up on the stat sheet, he dominates when you watch all-22. https://x.com/BrandonThornNFL/status/1726614895603659244?s=20 https://x.com/NextGenStats/status/1614794704687869953?s=20 Best DT/iDL in football? Edited November 20, 2023 by minutemancl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterCallSaul Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 Maybe when Aaron Donald retires. To say Lawrence is “easily” the best interior DT is not true. He is a bonafide superstar tho. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y*so*blu Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 I don't know about the best but IMO he's easily top 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted November 20, 2023 Author Share Posted November 20, 2023 10 minutes ago, BetterCallSaul said: Maybe when Aaron Donald retires. To say Lawrence is “easily” the best interior DT is not true. He is a bonafide superstar tho. I think Dex has been better than Donald over the last year and a half. I say that with the caveats of I definitely haven't watched every snap of Donald like I have Dexy, there is a bit of a homer factor in play here, and obviously Donald is overall the much more accomplished player over their respective careers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 1 minute ago, y*so*blu said: I don't know about the best but IMO he's easily top 5. I was a huge fan of Lawrence when he was at Clemson - he shouldn't exist, he's 340lbs with the quickness and acceleration of a guy at 280-290. On any given play, he's the strongest person on the field as well, he's got that "old man strength" (despite not even being 30). The closest comp I have for him is Haloti Ngata - who I consider the best pure NT in football. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 Best interior D is a little much if only because last year if Bosa didn't win DPOY, I thought Chris Jones deserved it and was arguably the most destructive force in the league on the defensive side of the ball. He and Bosa were 1/2 however you sliced it. Not all interior d-lineman roles are the same. A 3t is not doing the same as a 0, so I don't think it's fully apples to apples. What we can talk about is how what he is doing is absolutely freakish for a 0 and how there may not be a bigger gap between the #1 and #2 player at a position (talking specifically about nose tackles) in the league right now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 Chris Jones Jeffery Simmons Quinnen Williams All also in the conversation. I also feel like next year you'll see Jalen Carter make a push for that group as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFlaccoSeagulls Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 (edited) He's a good player. Best? No. This would be like me saying Mark Andrews is the best TE in the league. Edited November 20, 2023 by AFlaccoSeagulls 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 37 minutes ago, Forge said: A 3t is not doing the same as a 0, so I don't think it's fully apples to apples. This is perhaps one of the most important parts of this discussion. We've gotten too comfortable in using the term IDL and not paying attention to the nuances between a 3t, NT, UT, etc. Dexter Lawrence is a NT. He's an NT who does a lot of UT things, but that doesn't change who he is. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted November 20, 2023 Author Share Posted November 20, 2023 45 minutes ago, ET80 said: This is perhaps one of the most important parts of this discussion. We've gotten too comfortable in using the term IDL and not paying attention to the nuances between a 3t, NT, UT, etc. Dexter Lawrence is a NT. He's an NT who does a lot of UT things, but that doesn't change who he is. While this is true, I knew exactly what I was saying in the original post. I think he's the best iDL in the NFL this year. When you factor in impact, production, consistency vs difficulty of assignment, he's the best. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 34 minutes ago, minutemancl said: While this is true, I knew exactly what I was saying in the original post. I think he's the best iDL in the NFL this year. When you factor in impact, production, consistency vs difficulty of assignment, he's the best. If I'm being honest? I agree with you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted November 20, 2023 Author Share Posted November 20, 2023 4 minutes ago, ET80 said: If I'm being honest? I agree with you. My man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minutemancl Posted November 20, 2023 Author Share Posted November 20, 2023 Also, in full transparency, Chris Jones was slightly better than Dexy last year. He was unbelievable last year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSURacerDT55 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 (edited) I wish we could pull up those pre draft threads, he was the exact same guy at Clemson. Also they had a stud DL at Clemson that year Edited November 20, 2023 by MSURacerDT55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSURacerDT55 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 2 hours ago, BetterCallSaul said: Maybe when Aaron Donald retires. To say Lawrence is “easily” the best interior DT is not true. He is a bonafide superstar tho. I think he specified pressures from a 1/0 techs, I think its pretty rare for a guy to get pressure like he does from the position he play. The last person I saw at that position get pressure like that was Shaun Rogers and I thought he was criminally underrated 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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