UCF's Malachi Lawrence shattered draft expectations with an elite combine, rocketing to No. 20 in the final mock draft projections.
Coming off of a First-team All-Big 12 season and strong combine showing, four-year UCF defensive lineman Malachi Lawrence has been one of the biggest risers in the NFL Draft.
At the beginning of the pre-draft process, Lawrence was seen as a late-second, early-third round pick, but has risen all the way to first-round projections in most mock drafts.
In NFL Media Analyst Daniel Jeremiah's final mock draft before the actual thing, Lawrence slotted in at No. 20, being taken by the Dallas Cowboys.
"This is a potential trade-down spot. I have heard the Cowboys like Lawrence, which makes a lot of sense considering their new assistant defensive line coach, Demeitre Brim, was a defensive analyst for UCF last season," Jeremiah wrote.
Last season, Lawrence posted seven sacks and two forced fumbles, recording the fifth-highest pressure rate (pressures per pass-rush snap) among all FBS edge defenders, according to PFSN, pressuring opposing quarterbacks on 22.7% of his pass-rushes.
This was the same percentage as First-Team All American Rueben Bain Jr.
Roundtable's Demetrius Montero recently reported that ESPN's Todd McShay also projects Lawrence as a second-rounder, but believes he could sneak into the first round.
"He's an advanced pass rusher," McShay said. "He's got length. I watch Lawrence, and I say to myself, "Why not the first round?" I mean, truly, and I've got him projected going in the middle of the second round in this latest mock draft, Mock 3.0. And he's a guy who's just ascending."
Lawrence's ascension began after the draft combine, where he posted a historic performance.
At the combine, Lawrence posted historic numbers, finishing second among all defensive lineman in 40-yard dash (4.52), broad jump (10'10"), vertical jump (40"), and 10-yard split (1.59). His blazing 40-time came in just behind projected top-five pick David Bailey, who ran a 4.5 flat.
Lawrence's performance ranked him within the top 1% of Relative Athletic Scores (RAS) in the past 40 years, scoring an unofficial 9.9 out of a possible 10. Of the 2,046 defensive ends who have participated in the combine since 1987, Lawrence ranked No. 22, posting an "elite" grade in both "composite explosion grade" and "composite speed grade."
NFL Draft Files on X wrote that Lawrence experienced a huge rise in draft stock following his explosive performance, naming him one of the biggest winners of the day.
According to the NFL Draft Files, Lawrence was "seen as a fringe top-100 guy before today but the league might have to now agree with me that he's a top 50 player after today's [combine] performance. Nearly a flawless Combine, top-to-bottom."
The first round of the NFL Draft kicks off Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Join our ROUNDTABLE community! It's free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!