Usage / Role
100%
Featured defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2013-2017SMU
Justin Lawler
DE • 6'4" • 265 lbs • Pottsboro, TX, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Justin Lawler shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 51.5 disruption score.
Impact Production
100
Top-tier box-score impact for an edge defender
lowelite
Reliability
87
Regular contributor with several takeover games
lowhigh
Star Power
89
Elite ceiling indicators
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2017 Regular Season · SMU
1314151617
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 5
- Program Path
- SMU
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: North Texas
Player Story
Justin Lawler built his college career from 2013 through 2017 as a defensive end from Pottsboro, TX wearing No. 99, spending time with SMU. The clearest part of Justin Lawler's career was his defensive production:...
Read the story2★
- Committed To
- SMU
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2013
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2018
- Selection
- Round 7 · Pick 26
- Overall
- No. 244
- NFL Team
- Los Angeles Rams
Justin Lawler, DE. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2017 Regular Season · SMU. Justin Lawler shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 51.5 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 139
- TFL
- 29
- Sacks
- 15.5
- QB hurries
- 17
- Passes defended
- 2
- Touchdowns
- 1
Quick Answers
Justin Lawler quick answers
- Latest team and position
- SMU · DE
- Career Tackles
- 139
- Tracked sample
- 5 unique seasons · 5 entries · 25 games
- Best season
- 2017 Regular Season · SMU
- Top game
- North Texas
- Recruit profile
- 2-star · Pottsboro · SMU
- High school pipeline
- Pottsboro · 3 FBS recruits · 1 drafted player
- NFL Draft
- 2018 · Round 7 · Pick 26 · Los Angeles Rams
- Latest roster
- No. 99 · Class 2017
- 2017 Tackles rank
- 74 tackles · DE 2nd (top 1%) · American Athletic 27th (top 5%) · National 273rd (top 5%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 Regular Season | SMU | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2014 Regular Season | SMU | 1 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 1 | 50 |
| 2015 Regular Season | SMU | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2016 Regular Season | SMU | 12 | 65 | 13.5 | 6 | 7 | - | 0 | 67.7 |
| 2017 Regular Season | SMU | 12 | 74 | 15.5 | 9.5 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 74.4 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Justin Lawler
Justin Lawler played DE for SMU. Across 5 tracked seasons, Justin Lawler recorded 3 receiving yards, 139 tackles, and 1 touchdowns. His top tracked season came in 2017 with SMU.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2017 Regular Season
SMU paired 37 primary output with 51.5 efficiency.
Supporting note
2017 Regular Season role shape
impact-led usage with 51.5 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value is trending up
2017 Regular Season improved on the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: UConn
Win with backfield disruption leading the way. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2017 Regular Season · SMU
Games
12
Havoc Plays / G
3.1
Efficiency
51.5
Usage
15.6
Consistency
46.2
Best Game by takeover score
UConn
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Stephen F. Austin: 1. North Texas: 5. TCU: 1. Arkansas State: 4. UConn: 9. Houston: 3. Cincinnati: 1. Tulsa: 7. UCF: 1.5. Navy: 0. Memphis: 2. Tulane: 2.5
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Stephen F. Austin: 4 by 26.7. North Texas: 7 by 79.2. TCU: 9 by 47.5. Arkansas State: 3 by 52.5. UConn: 7 by 79.2. Houston: 7 by 59.2. Cincinnati: 6 by 35. Tulsa: 8 by 83.3. UCF: 4 by 31.7. Navy: 10 by 41.7. Memphis: 4 by 36.7. Tulane: 5 by 45.8
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins4.2 · Games = 7 · +2.7 vs Losses
Losses1.5 · Games = 5 · -2.7 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
12 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
UConn
Best efficiency game
83.3 vs Tulsa
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 11/25 | vs TulaneSplash game | W 41-38 | 5 | 3 | — | 1.50 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/18 | @ MemphisSplash game | L 45-66 | 4 | 4 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/11 | @ Navy10+ tackles | L 40-43 | 10 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/4 | vs UCF | L 24-31 | 4 | 3 | — | 1.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/28 | vs TulsaSplash game | W 38-34 | 8 | 8 | — | 3 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/21 | @ Cincinnati | W 31-28 | 6 | 2 | — | 0.50 | 0.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/7 | @ HoustonSplash game | L 22-35 | 7 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 9/30 | vs UConn2+ sacks · Splash game | W 49-28 | 7 | 5 | — | 4 | 4 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/23 | vs Arkansas StateSplash game | W 44-21 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 9/16 | @ TCU | L 36-56 | 9 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/9 | vs North Texas2+ sacks · Splash game | W 54-32 | 7 | 5 | — | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/2 | vs Stephen F. Austin | W 58-14 | 4 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
Player Story
Justin Lawler story
Justin Lawler built his college career from 2013 through 2017 as a defensive end from Pottsboro, TX wearing No. 99, spending time with SMU. The clearest part of Justin Lawler's career was his defensive production: 139 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 15.5 sacks, and 2 passes defended across 25 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2017 with SMU. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Defensive careers can be hard to read from one number, but Justin Lawler's production has multiple signals. His career also includes 3 receiving yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 25 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across SMU.
The arc is straightforward: Justin Lawler moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
SMU
2013-2017
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
20132014201520162017
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 Regular Season | SMU | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2014 Regular Season | SMU | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2015 Regular Season | SMU | 0 | — | — | 0 |
| 2016 Regular Season | SMU | 26.5 | 42.6 | 16.3 | 26.5 |
| 2017 Regular Season | SMU | 37 | 51.5 | 15.6 | 10.5 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ North Texas
Week 1 · W 34-21
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
7.5
Havoc Plays
94.4 takeover
7.5 disruption/tackle impact with 94.4 takeover score.
#2
vs UConn
Week 5 · W 49-28 · Conference game
9
Havoc Plays
93.1 takeover
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
9 disruption/tackle impact with 93.1 takeover score.
#3
vs Tulsa
Week 9 · W 38-34 · Conference game
7
Havoc Plays
87 takeover
Win with 7 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
7 disruption/tackle impact with 87 takeover score.
#4
vs North Texas
Week 2 · W 54-32
5
Havoc Plays
78.3 takeover
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
5 disruption/tackle impact with 78.3 takeover score.
#5
vs Memphis
Week 10 · L 7-51 · Conference game
4
Havoc Plays
76.9 takeover
Loss with 4 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
4 disruption/tackle impact with 76.9 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2017 Regular Season · SMU
37 primary output · 51.5 efficiency · 15.6 usage
74.4
#2
2016 Regular Season · SMU
67.7
26.5 primary · 42.6 efficiency · 16.3 usage
#3
2014 Regular Season · SMU
50
0 primary · 0 efficiency · — usage
Milestones
8
Impact games
15
Splash games
1
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Justin Lawler
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