The Dallas Cowboys knew who they wanted with their second first-round pick this year, they just wanted to find a way to pull if off in a way that made sense. UCF’s Malachi Lawrence, 6-foot-4, 253-pounds, was one of best pure pass-rushers in the class. Explosive get-off, long arms and an arsenal of pass rush moves made him a draftnik darling to more than a few scouts.
Others weren’t quite so sure. They dinged Lawrence for his gap discipline and his halfhearted efforts against the run. Not surprisingly, his placement on draft boards reflected that.
Nationally, the pick has been graded as one might assume; high grades come from those who believe positive scouting reports while negative grades come from those who believe critical scouting reports. The only helpful way to really look at this pick is using the trusty Scientific Grading Method we use this time every year.
Grading the decision-making process rather than just regurgitating the scouting reports lets us know how savvy of a selection Lawrence was for the Cowboys. Looking at positional and surplus value, team need, scarcity of alternatives, risk, reward, and yes, consensus value, we can objectively assess pick No. 23.
Fitting in on the edge, Lawrence fills a needed, high value position on the Cowboys. As the replacement to Micah Parsons, Lawrence has some impossibly huge shoes to fill. But if he can become the Cowboys’ top pass-rusher under the tenure of his rookie deal, he will provide massive surplus value for Dallas.
There were some other good pass-rushing options still on the board, but none packed quite the same explosiveness as Lawrence. Lawrence appeared to be the best pure pass-rushing option available to the Cowboys and they went and got him.
As a nearly-23-year-old prospect, he comes with some risk. They say his best football is supposed to be ahead of him which implies a gamble. But the reward is top-tier pass-rusher off the edge and that’s hard to resist. Based on a consensus board of Dane Brugler, the Draft Network, PFF and CBS Sports, Lawrence was slotted at No. 65. But based on reports he wasn’t going to make it beyond San Francisco, waiting until 65 clearly wasn’t an option.
In the end, the Cowboys got their man. It wasn’t the clearcut grand slam Caleb Downs was, but it’s a drive to deep right field with homerun potential.
Cowboys’ final grade of Malachi Lawrence: 8/10
In the end, Lawrence was a polarizing prospect, with some scouts calling him the best pass-rush prospect in the class and worthy of a first-round pick, and others calling him one-dimensional and destined for Day 2 of the 2026 NFL draft.
It was a situation the Cowboys were well aware of as they traded back three spots to accumulate more draft capital. Only when they feared they could delay no longer did they pull the trigger at 23. Consensus boards will call it a reach, but sometimes teams have to trust their own scouts and do what they think is right even if it does bring criticism and harsh grades.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Scientific grading method: Grading the Cowboys pick Malachi Lawrence
Reporting by Reid D Hanson, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
