Auburn Football: Carl Lawson's Return to Full Contact Just What Tigers Need

Carl Lawson's injury, missed time and recovery are all in the past now.

The sophomore defensive end is back to 100 percent, and he can't wait to prove it on the field.

"I'm ready for the first game," Lawson said Tuesday, according to Brandon Marcello of AL.com. "I'm ready to get back out there and enjoy the sport. First scrimmage—I'm looking forward to it, and these days will fly by. I'm ready."

Auburn's coaches made Lawson, who missed all of 2014 with an ACL injury and subsequent surgery, stay out of full-contact practice this spring. They wanted to take it slow with the star sophomore and not risk a setback.

But they're not going to hold him back during fall camp, which opened Tuesday for the Tigers.

"I'm not thinking about the injury. My coaches are more thinking about that than me," Lawson said, according to Charles Goldberg of AuburnTigers.com. "Even when I got back out there, I've never really thought about how my knee went out.

"I'm one of those players who plays with reckless abandon."

Lawson's eagerness to return to contact is an excellent sign for Auburn's defense. Without him, Auburn dropped from 32 sacks in 2013's championship run to just 21 in 2014.

The entire defense suffered without the pass rush it enjoyed two seasons ago with Lawson and NFL first-round draft pick Dee Ford.

Quarterbacks had all day to throw the ball, and the Tigers allowed more than 7 yards per opponent pass attempt for the fifth straight season. Auburn recorded only five total sacks in the five losses of what was a disappointing 2014 campaign.

Now, Auburn is looking at the trenches as a potential place of strength in 2015 with the return of Lawson and several experienced members of last year's defensive line.

"[Lawson's return] helps a lot because last year we needed some pass rush and we didn't have that," junior defensive tackle Montravius Adams said, according to Alex Scarborough of ESPN.com. "Having everybody back, everybody pretty healthy, it's going to force people to free up somebody."

In new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp's scheme, that someone could be Lawson.

Instead of a traditional, hand-in-the-ground defensive end, Lawson is lining up at buck—a stand-up pass-rush specialist who operates like a hybrid 3-4 outside linebacker—during practices.

That allows the former 5-star recruit to concentrate on what he does best.

"I like the position because you get to go make plays," Lawson said, per Goldberg. "You're not holding blocks for the backers. You're going to make the plays yourself. That's why I like it. It's real natural."

Lawson said he understands the importance of being back out on the practice field for the Tigers. He's counting down the days until the first day of full pads and the first scrimmage of fall camp.

"I need to be in the scrimmages, and I need to be out there," Lawson said, per Marcello. "With coach Muschamp's defense, he's trying to prep as many guys to be as good as possible so there's no overly valued person. A team that puts more emphasis on one guy, what happens when that one guy goes out? They blow up."

A healthy Lawson at full speed is just what Auburn has been waiting to see for over a year now.

Even though he's a sophomore with just one season of experience, he's the best pass-rusher on the roster. And his work in practice can help develop other key linemen, including elite newcomer Byron Cowart.

Several Auburn players and coaches have said throughout the offseason that Lawson looked bigger, stronger and faster in his return from the ACL injury.

The defensive end himself says he's better than ever this fall—and he's even working on some new moves to torment offensive linemen.

"There are a lot of things that are going to happen in the season that I'm not going to tell you," Lawson said, per Scarborough. "It's a secret."

There's no doubt those words are music to Auburn's ears.

 

Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.

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