Cincinnati Bengals: Players to watch vs. Browns in Week 4

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GREEN BAY, WI – SEPTEMBER 24: Carl Lawson #58 of the Cincinnati Bengals sacks Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers during the third quarter of their game at Lambeau Field on September 24, 2017 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

2. Carl Lawson

Lawson was perhaps an afterthought for anyone not inside Bengals headquarters when he was drafted. Clearly there was talent, but with his complicated injury history in college (torn ACL in 2014, cracked hip in 2015), his new team already selecting another defensive end in the previous round (Jordan Willis), and the Bengals’ long tradition of handing playing time to veterans long past their usefulness, it seemed like there wouldn’t be much of an immediate role for him.

It didn’t take long for him to blow that idea out of the water. After little to show stat-wise through two weeks, Lawson became a terror for Aaron Rodgers all day in Week 3. Lawson picked up 2.5 sacks and seven total pressures on the Green Bay quarterback in 54 snaps, per ESPN. Before he gets anointed as the next big superstar edge rusher, however, it must be noted that his opposition wasn’t exactly high quality.

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Green Bay has been completely decimated by injuries at their tackle spot to open the year. Against the Bengals, the Packers started Kyle Murphy, a second-year tackle whose first extensive playtime in his career came in the first two weeks of the year. In his 228 snaps for the year now, Murphy rates out as the 54th-best tackle (among players with at least 59 snaps) by Pro Football Focus Edge, with an abysmal 45.4 overall grade.

Lawson’s matchup is much tougher this week. Rather than facing a young second-year backup thrust into action, he gets to face a future Hall-of-Famer that’s still at the top of his game in Joe Thomas.

Thomas has been an insanely good left tackle throughout his career. He’s arguably been the best offensive tackle in each and every one of his seasons spent in the league. Every season of his career has a PFF grade of at least 86. Four times, he graded at 90+, and is 0.2 points away from reaching that plateau through three games in 2017. The only reason he isn’t appreciated and discussed with much-deserved reverence more often than he already is would be due to his career being wasted on the constantly-rebuilding mess that is Cleveland’s football franchise.

Lawson may have had a great performance against Green Bay, but doing that against weak competition is a much different story than having a similar sort of impact versus someone of Thomas’ ability. It won’t take as much of a dominating performance by Lawson to help put Cincinnati in position to win against Cleveland, but any positive he can manage to provide his team could make a big difference.

Moreover, if Lawson can somehow win his matchup with Thomas, it will show that Cincinnati’s young pass rusher really might be a special player, one who could be a game-changing key to the present and future success of the Bengals.

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