Rashard Lawrence (born August 27, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

and was selected by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

in the fourth round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

Early years

Lawrence attended

Neville High School Neville High School is a high school in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is administered by the Monroe City Schools Board. It is located 1/2 mile from the Ouachita River. Its mascot is the Tiger. Academics Neville offers a wide variety of ac ...

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropol ...

. He was selected to play in the 2016

Under Armour All-America Game The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the U.S. state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game was first played on January 5 ...

, but did not play due to injury. A five-star recruit, he committed to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

(LSU) to play college football.

College career

As a true freshman at LSU in 2016, Lawrence played in nine games and had six tackles and one sack. He became a starter his sophomore year in 2017. He started 10 games, recording 32 tackles and 1.5 sacks. As a junior in 2018 he started all 13 games, finishing with 54 tackles and four sacks. He was named the MVP of the 2019 Fiesta Bowl after recording two sacks. Lawrence returned to LSU for his senior year in 2019, rather than enter the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April ...

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Lawrence was selected by the

in the fourth round with the 131st overall pick of the

. He was placed on injured reserve on October 17, 2020, with a calf injury. He was activated on December 1, 2020. Lawrence entered the 2021 season as the Cardinals starting nose tackle. He was placed on injured reserve on November 6, 2021 with a calf injury. He was activated on December 13. On October 26, 2022, Lawrence was placed on injured reserve after suffering a shoulder injury in Week 7. On August 29, 2023, Lawrence was released by the Cardinals as part of final roster cuts before the start of the 2023 season.

Miami Dolphins

On August 31, 2023, Lawrence was signed to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...

practice squad. He was released on November 7.

Carolina Panthers

On November 10, 2023, Lawrence was signed to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

practice squad. He was released on November 28.

Houston Texans

On November 30, 2023, Lawrence was signed to the Houston Texans practice squad. He was released on January 17, 2024.

Denver Broncos

On January 24, 2024, Lawrence signed a futures contract with the

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Rashard 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Monroe, Louisiana American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles LSU Tigers football players Arizona Cardinals players Carolina Panthers players Miami Dolphins players Houston Texans players Under Armour All-American football players Denver Broncos players