Malachi Lawrence: EDGE · UCF · #51.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Malachi Lawrence
Turns pressure into sacks — pressures become finishes. Played for two head coaches at UCF: Gus Malzahn and Scott Frost. First career honor, 2025: All-Big 12. A game that shows it: 3 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss against Cincinnati — Week 7, 2025.
Play style
Turns pressure into sacks — when he gets there, he finishes.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
28 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 11 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Yahoo Sports Oct 29Yahoo Sports Oct 26Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 17-10vs Jacksonville State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 2 | W 68-7vs North Carolina A&T | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 34-9vs North Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 20-34@ Kansas State | 2 | 2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 20-27vs Kansas | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 11-20@ Cincinnati | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 45-13vs West Virginia | 4 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 10 | L 3-30@ Baylor | 7 | 4 | 3.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 11 | L 27-30vs Houston | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 17-14vs Oklahoma State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 21-41@ No. 11 BYU | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 28 | 18 | 11.0 | 7.0 | — | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Sack rate
25%7 sacksTFL rate
39%11 TFLHurry rate
11%3 hurriesPressure-to-sack conversion
70%7 of 10 pressures28 tackles · 11 for loss · 7 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Road4g | 3.5 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Scott Frost
Pass share
51.7%
403 pass / 377 run
Plays / game
65.0
12 games
Team sack rate
4.9%
429 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
First team in his league at the position.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #68 at the position.
The No. 1,157 recruit in the country is starting on the defensive line in the Big 12 as a senior.
How it ended
Four seasons at UCF, 18 sacks, a first-team All-Conference season (2025) — drafted at #23 overall by the Dallas Cowboys.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG 12 · 1ST TEAM
All-Big 12 1st team (2025)
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Gus Malzahn → Scott Frost. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Next stop · NFL
Dallas Cowboys2026 NFL rookie season
Dallas Cowboys2026 NFL rookie season
