Lawson might bag rookie sack record
After eight seasons of chasing quarterbacks, Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap is getting a little taste of what it feels like to be the hunted.
Dunlap has held the Bengals rookie sack record since recording 9.5 in 2010, but Carl Lawson is bearing down on him.
Lawson moved another step closer to Dunlap’s mark Wednesday when an official scoring change credited him with an additional half sack in the 20-17 victory at Denver on Nov. 19.
The fourth-round pick from Auburn has used a variety of moves to accumulate his team-high 7.5 sacks this season, which lead all NFL rookies.
He showed off another move this week when asked about breaking Dunlap’s record: The shrug.
“Everyone keeps asking me about it,” Lawson said. “I keep saying I’m not really worried about it. I feel like Carlos felt the same way when he broke the record. I don’t really see it as that big of a thing.”
Dunlap said he isn’t worried about it either. In fact, he likes that it’s being challenged.
“Obviously I would love to hold that, but if it was to be somebody I played with, it would be a great thing to see rather than coming back after I left and hearing a young guy got it,” Dunlap said.
Lawson has appeared in all 11 games this year, playing 43 percent of the snaps. He has had at least half a sack in three consecutive games, including 1.5 Sunday against Cleveland that made him the fifth rookie in Bengals history to have multiple sacks in multiple games, and the first since Dunlap did it four times in 2010.
The others are James Francis (two games in 1990), Dan Wilkinson (two in 1994) and Justin Smith (two in 2001).
Though Lawson has said he isn’t concerned about the record, he has made it clear he does care about his total. He is still a little miffed that he didn’t get credit for a sack in week 4 on a play in which he lost a couple of teeth.
“I got my teeth back,” he said. “I can never get that sack back.”
Lawson appeared to record a strip-sack on the play, but the officials ruled that Cleveland quarterback Deshone Kizer’s arm was moving forward. Because it was fourth-and-10, there was no reason for Bengals coach Marvin Lewis to challenge the call, so it stayed an incomplete pass.
The NFL record for sacks by a rookie is 14.5, set by Tennessee’s Jevon Kearse in 1999. In fact, the top six rookie sack numbers all were set by players drafted in the first round.
The Bengals stole Lawson in the fourth. Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said he was high on him from watching the film, and his interview with him at the combine only strengthened his opinion.
“He was one of my favorite guys there,” Guenther said. “I asked him what’s his best pass-rush move, (and) he ran through the whole litany of them. Some guys will tell you ‘I don’t know.’ This guy takes his craft seriously. The peak is still coming for him. He is going to be a really good player.”