He became the 27th first-round selection for the Tigers. Ryan will be able to move him around the defensive line and with Hughes and Marcel Dareus, the Bills have a solid defensive front that should be able to get more pressure this season.
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Lawson knows Rex Ryan well, as the Bills’ head coach is strongly connected to Clemson, where his son plays. Of the previous picks, only Watkins and 2013 fifth-round pick Jonathan Meeks are still on the Bills roster. The defensive end out of Clemson is one of the best pass rushers in the draft if not the best rusher.
Sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Thursday night that Lawson, the former Clemson standout, will require surgery, likely after the upcoming season, that will sideline him four to six months. If I didn’t have surgery my freshman year why would I need surgery now?
“I was waiting for my time when Vic left, just waiting and grinding for it since I got to Clemson”, Lawson said. Ryan wore a Clemson helmet to a Bills press conference past year.
Whaley said the team wasn’t anxious about the report of his shoulder injury and the Bills “never” expected Lawson to last until 19. Whaley also noted Lawson can be a three-down player because of his versatility to play both end and linebacker.
Lawson is a very good fit for a Bills team that was near the bottom of the league in getting to the passer last season and then released defensive end Mario Williams. It was Whaley who also was the first within the Bills’ hierarchy to publicly say that the team was going to use a “more traditional 3-4” defense than it did last season. “Going to military school just made me better as a man and had me ready for what Clemson had for me”. “He loves the game, he loves to prepare, he is low-maintenance”.
For Lawson, who was at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago to hear his name called, Thursday was an emotional day for more reasons than one. Lawson, however, was the only Tiger selected among the draft’s first 31 picks.
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The second and third rounds of the NFL Draft begin Friday at 7 p.m.
