Malachi
Lawrence.
Malachi
Lawrence.
UCF· 6'5"· 253 lb· 4.52s 40
"Long-armed, blazing edge with 4.52 speed and a 40-inch vert who turned a late-blooming UCF breakout into first-round wiring; the question is bend and hand-usage vs NFL tackles."Pre-draft read
This wide-alignment defensive end consistently threatens the outside shoulder. He converts his speed into a forceful bull rush when offensive tackles overset. His primary win comes from a long-arm punch off the ball: he extends first, clears his frame, then transitions to the near shoulder with a swipe or an arm-over move back inside. His motor is evident late in plays, as he pursues runners to the boundary in run support and closes on backdoor screens.
His hands, while active, lack consistent refinement. His rush plan often relies on a single dominant move, drifting onto the tackle's chest when stalemated. His bend at the top is functional, achieving wins through corner speed and stride length. In run defense, he sets edges using length, but needs to improve sinking his weight quicker against down blocks.
This prospect projects best in a wide-9 attacking front that wants to penetrate upfield and set the edge.
Immediate situational pass rusher with starter upside given development of an inside counter move and refining block recognition in the run game.
A two-gap 3-4 scheme where he would be asked to consistently absorb blocks and hold the point of attack for linebackers.
His athleticism and length are elite first-step traits for a wide-9 scheme, but he needs to diversify his rush plan and improve change-of-direction to reach his high ceiling.
Malachi Lawrence 2025 Regular Season Highlights
Official Big 12 cut of his 2025 season — long-arm wins, motor finishes and the Iowa State strip-sack.
Malachi Lawrence College Highlights — UCF EDGE | NFL Draft Film
Full draft-tape reel isolating his wide-9 rush plan, run-defense length and boundary chase.
Lawrence's measurables and motor showing shades of Khalil Mack
McShay breakdown of the combine testing and how the athletic profile changed his first-round grade.
This prospect projects as a functional, scheme-diverse edge rusher whose primary role involves applying exterior pressure through speed and length. A team is investing in his athletic upside, particularly his outstanding explosion, to develop a more nuanced pass-rush repertoire around a strong foundational move. He offers the potential to be a rotational contributor with starter upside as his technique develops.
Emerging as a full-time edge defender in his final college season, he posted significant production following a position shift that allowed him to play downhill from a wide-9 alignment. His prior collegiate career involved rotational reps, showing a gradual development path, which culminated in a standout senior year. His usage demonstrates an ability to convert raw physical traits into meaningful impact under the right scheme.
Evaluators had varying opinions, with some concerns regarding his somewhat unrefined pass-rush plan and a lack of data on his change-of-direction ability, which raised questions about his agility. Despite these flags, his elite measurable athleticism, including a 4.52 forty-yard dash, offset these concerns for many teams, leading to a late first-round selection.
- 01
Elite length
33 5/8-inch arms allow him to initiate a long-arm punch, control tackles at distance, and maintain a clear frame on run-side climbs.
- 02
Explosive combine performance
his 4.52 forty, 40-inch vertical, and 130-inch broad jump ranked highest among edge rushers in his class.
- 03
Effective long-arm rush
he extends before contact, opening the tackle's inside shoulder, then uses a swipe or arm-over to win either inside or over the top.
- 04
High pursuit motor
consistent and late-play effort in chasing outside runs, cutback lanes, and screens, leading to sacks and TFLs.
- 05
Scheme versatility
capable of aligning as a 5-technique in odd fronts and standing up in sub packages, demonstrating adaptability in various schemes.
- 01
Limited rush moves
primarily relies on a long-arm; lacks a consistent inside counter, leading to issues when the initial punch is neutralized.
- 02
Average bend
wins primarily with corner speed; ankle flexion and hip drop are not elite, causing him to occasionally run past the pocket.
- 03
Late production bloom
significant production only in his final college year, raising questions about his development curve and projection.
- 04
No change-of-direction data
absent 3-cone and shuttle times at Indianapolis, leaving an unknown regarding his short-area quickness.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.52sp50
- Vertical
- 40inp50
- Broad jump
- 130inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | UCF | 3 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | UCF | 13 | 24 | 5.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024 | UCF | 11 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | UCF | 10 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career | — | 37 | 69 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Long, athletic 4-3 end with real pass-rush juice, motor and scheme versatility — the middle of the outcome curve.
Length-and-speed edge who turned a slow college climb into an All-Pro-adjacent NFL floor once a scheme committed to him wide.
Vertical-speed rusher whose bend never fully translated; a useful rotational piece rather than a double-digit-sack anchor.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context — A Louisville, Kentucky product who signed with UCF in 2021 and spent four years climbing the depth chart before turning into the Knights' full-time wide-9 edge in 2025. The measurables and tools were always obvious; the tape and the production caught up in his fifth year, when he posted 7 sacks, 11 TFL, 40 PFF pressures, All-Big 12 First Team honors and a signature strip-sack game against Iowa State. Combine week in Indianapolis then reset the board around him: 4.52 in the 40, a 40-inch vertical, a 130-inch broad and the highest NextGen athleticism score among edge rushers in the class. Boards that had him at the top of Round 2 pushed him into the back of Round 1, and Dallas took him at 23.
NFL fit — Dallas Cowboys. Lawrence lands in a defense that has spent the past two off-seasons trying to replace the pass-rush juice around its existing premium edge rush, and his profile is a clean archetype match: a long, wide-alignment DE with 10-yard get-off, a long-arm punch as a primary win and enough length to two-gap a tight end when the run-side call demands it. The Cowboys will start him as the LDE opposite Parsons in nickel and let him play sub packages on obvious pass downs, with situational stand-up reps to keep tackles from cheating their sets. Development priorities in Year 1 are hand-usage variety — a real inside counter to the long-arm — and sink at the point of attack; if either shows up early, he is a double-digit-pressure rookie.
Retrospective — Too early to call, but the evaluation is honest about what the pick is buying: a four-year college climber whose one great year and historic combine got him into Round 1. The hit case is the Greenard/Nwosu path — length, speed and scheme fit compound into a decade-long starter once the rush plan diversifies. The miss case is the one-move rusher who runs past pockets against NFL tackles and settles into a rotational role. Dallas is betting the traits and the arrow, and 2026 will start telling us which way the bet leans.