Scouting Profile: Malachi Lawrence - EDGE - UCF
Sales Pitch: Tall lanky EDGE rusher whose well rounded game resulted in consistent multi-year production in college.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA Top-50 for 2025*
*Red Numbers Indicate NCAA Bottom-50 for 2025*
Scouting Report
Malachi Lawrence is a former 3-Star recruit from the state of Kentucky. The 5th year senior appeared in 37 total games for the Knights, with 22 starts between 2024 and 2025. Lawrence is a two time All-Big 12 honoree — 2023 and 2025 — with consistent production across the three seasons he was a meaningful contributor in.
Lawrence is a tall, lanky EDGE with above average strength and athleticism. He has been a steady producer, with 3 straight seasons of 5+ sacks and 25+ pressures, 2025 being his best season with 7 and 40 respectively. Lawrence is a well rounded pass rusher but does his best work with speed. He displays the upfield burst and length to consistently win the high side shoulder. He has enough change of direction skills to cross back inside of tackle’s faces and use either a hump or swim move to win cleanly. In addition to his hump and swim move, Lawrence shows one of the deepest rush arsenals in the class. He has a variety of moves that range anywhere from adequate to elite, and he does a fantastic job sequencing them to together to get quick wins. His hands are lighting fast with good pop to create separation from blockers and give himself space to work. Lawrence’s length is also an advantage as a run defender, where he displays the ability to strike and extend blockers at the point of attack. His ability to lock out blockers in the run game, grants him the ability to control his assignment and leverage his gap consistently on the edge.
Lawrence is a good athlete but his tall frame is high cut and lacks ideal bend or twitch for a rush first EDGE. He leans heavily on his plan of attack to create clear corners for him, because he lacks the flexibility to drop his weight and keep his speed and balance around the arc. His limited lower half flexibility also hurts his ability to win with power. He generates good initial knockback out of his stance, but if that is not enough to win he lacks the consistent leg drive to continue collapsing the pocket. Lawrence is a quality edge setter but his sub 250 pound frame lacks the mass to provide much more. He cannot be trusted to slide down inside versus double teams which limits his versatility. He also struggles — despite his length — to quickly shed blocks on two gap assignments. He is a below average processor in the run game, who often will abandon his gap to chase after ball carriers and is frequently a tick slow to read and react when engaged with a blocker. Lawrence’s lack of bend in his lower half also creates challenges as a tackler. He struggles to quickly drop his weight and mirror speed in space, which led to very high missed tackle numbers across his entire career.
Lawrence profiles best as a standup DE in an odd or even front. He is an older player without any real standout tool, but his rush arsenal and first step quickness give him a solid rotational floor. Lawrence’s range projects to start around the middle half of Day-2 rotational rusher with #2 upside.