2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: UCF EDGE Malachi Lawrence
All my scouting notes on the strengths, concerns, usage/role, skill set summary, NFL comparison and grade/projection for UCF EDGE Malachi Lawrence
UCF EDGE Malachi Lawrence
Height: 6-4
Weight: 253
Arm Length: 33 5/8 inches
Hand Size: 9 1/4
Wingspan: 81 5/8
Birthdate: N/A
Jersey No.: #51
Production: 39 games, 1,336 snaps, 28 TFL, 20 sacks, 0 INT, 5 PBUs, 3 FFs
Games Watched: Baylor, BYU, Texas Tech, Kansas, Kansas State, UNC
Scouting Notes
In an imperfect edge class without any top tier talents, Lawrence looks like the player worth betting on to achieve the highest end outcome in the NFL. He’s explosive off the ball when he times it up right, fast up the arc, changes speeds on the move and has dominant hand usage to consistently create paths to the quarterback for himself.
This isn’t even Lawrence’s best get-off, but watch the speed when he starts moving. Then the chop with the inside arm and drops the shoulder to avoid a square punch so he can keep moving up the arc and get his hips turned to the pocket. His inside arm never stops working to trim the angle. Even with the quarterback at 5-6 yards of depth (usually 7-8 yards) thanks to no interior rush, Lawrence (#51) is still able to turn the corner for a near sack. And he’s turning this angle from inside the in-line tight end, not from a wide split!
If Lawrence can make his get-off more consistent, than the best is truly yet to come. His Combine 10-yard split was in the 98th percentile, and he’s already been proven to be somewhat of a late bloomer. Lawrence’s speed up the arc, closing burst to the quarterback and constant variety of hand-fighting techniques are all so good.
Flashes the long arm to draw out the tackle’s punch, then pulls it back, drops the shoulder so the punch hits nothing and turns the corner with speed (left edge). Ghost rushes do not hit better than this.
For a defensive end Lawrence’s size (he told me at the combine he played in the 255-260 pounds range this past season), this is what top-tier cornering looks like. It almost always involves tilting the edge, dropping the inside shoulder and hand-fighting/manipulating the apex of the arc to create a better angle to corner. Lawrence is great at getting his hips aligned to the pocket and finding various ways to slip around the edge.
