ESPN names Dexter Lawrence NFL’s most physical D-lineman

After following up last year’s All-Pro campaign with yet another dominant season, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence is being recognized for his strong play.

ESPN’s Matt Bowen looked at 101 different traits and named the best at each position based on what he’s seen on tape this year and the underlying numbers.

It should not come as a surprise that Lawrence was named the league’s most physical defensive lineman.

“With a massive 6-foot-4, 342-pound frame, Lawrence uses his physicality and play strength to create havoc on the defensive front,” Bowen wrote. “He’s a disruptive force who has 46 tackles and 4.5 sacks this season.”

The 26-year-old is now up to 59 total pressures on the season. During last year’s breakout campaign, Lawrence finished with 63 total pressures. The talented defensive lineman has also posted a pass rush win percentage of 20.6 percent, according to Pro Football Focus, which is easily the highest on the team.

With the schedule now onto Week 16, Lawrence is PFF’s highest ranked interior defensive lineman on the season and the fourth-highest ranked player overall. Only Miami’s Tyreek Hill, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and San Francisco’s Nick Bosa are ranked higher by the analytics site.

Lawrence is not the only Giants defensive lineman to garner some praise this week. Veteran A’Shawn Robinson was highlighted by PFF for his standout performance against the Saints’ run game this past week.

The 28-year-old lineman registered eight total tackles for the second consecutive week, seven of which were solo tackles as he did a great job of containing New Orleans’ rushing attack.

“With eight tackles against the run, A’Shawn Robinson had more than any other player,” wrote PFF’s Khaled Elsayed. “Because seven of them were defensive stops, he also ended the week with the highest run-stop percentage at 31.8%.”

Robinson has recorded 52 tackles (28 solo), four tackles for loss, one quarterback hit and one pass breakup in 14 games (10 starts) this year.