Browns: 3 more Cincinnati Bengals to plan for
By Chad Porto
Carl Lawson
The most effecient defensive player on a rather forgettable defense is arguably Carl Lawson. Lawson is a defensive end for the Bengals who leads the team in sacks (3.5) and tackles-for-a-loss. While he’s not Myles Garrett or J.J. Watt on the line of scrimmage, he has shown to be able to get after quarterbacks with relative ease and can get deep on that aline of scrimmage to disrupt the running game.
He’s not going to single handily stop the Browns like an Aaron Donald could but he will be more than enough of a matchup problem for Jedrick Wills when he’s on the field. Wills hasn’t been as consistent in the passing game as he has been in the running game and teams are taking note. Indianapolis and Pittsburgh absolutely ran right past him, lending for Baker Mayfield to get tossed around all game. Granted in the Pittsburgh game, no offensive linemen besides J.C. Tretter played moderately well, so that’s not so much his fault then.
Yet, if the Bengals test Wills’ lateral quickness they just find that Lawson could have a huge day after all. The Browns will need to worry about him most of all but that doesn’t mean the Bengals defense can’t have a shockingly big day as a unit. Running the ball well, and getting Mayfield out under center is the way to go.