SPORTS

Will Muschamp mining for pass rushers after Carl Lawson

James Crepea
Montgomery Advertiser

Will Muschamp is still searching for a full assortment of pass rushers as Auburn heads into the offseason, but his primary weapon is clear: Carl Lawson, provided he's fully healthy as anticipated, is expected to return to form.

Lawson's absence last season due to a torn ACL left Auburn devoid of an edge rusher, which allowed opposing quarterbacks even more time to pick apart what was a porous secondary.

Muschamp recognizes the challenge his predecessor faced and knows it'll be his biggest issue to address in the fall.

"Hey, Ellis Johnson's a good football coach," Muschamp said before the Montgomery Auburn Club's annual meeting Tuesday night. "When you lose a guy like Carl Lawson it hurts, from a standpoint of really not having another dynamic rusher outside of that.

"That's something that we've got to continue to work on. We certainly have addressed some things as far as rush is concerned, as far as protection identification is concerned and we need to continue to progress."

Auburn tallied 21 sacks last season, with 12 1/2 coming from the defensive line, where DaVonte Lambert (3 1/2) led the group.

Lawson, who had four as a true freshman in 2013, was held out of full-contact practices and scrimmages this spring for precautionary reasons but the defensive end is expected to be full-go for the start of the season.

"Carl plays the game the way he's supposed to," outside linebackers coach Lance Thompson said. "Obviously, he's real hungry to get back, coming off of injury."

Muschamp and Thompson, who is coaching Lawson at the "Buck" position, rave about his intangibles.

"Great attitude, great work ethic, good football IQ, a guy that continues to strive to get better," Muschamp said of Lawson. "If anything, we got to slow him down a little bit, which is a good thing."

Lambert missed all of spring as he continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered against Samford in late November.

Muschamp said the coaching staff is "going to need to be careful with DaVonte going through camp" so as not to rush him back, but is optimistic for a return at some point in the first half of the season for the 6-foot-2 282 pound senior who can play defensive end and tackle.

Top-ranked recruit Byron Cowart is presumed to be in line to play opposite Lawson to form a dynamic edge rushing duo. Muschamp isn't downplaying Cowart's renowned abilities, but he's not anointing a true freshman, who has to adjust to college, learn a playbook and show he's physically ready, to any role yet.

"You've always got to be mindful that you're counting on the people that are on campus and then you're going to coach and develop the guys to come along to play for you," Muschamp said. "… You never pencil a guy in a true freshman coming in because, I've been doing this a long time, you really never know what you're going to get."

Whether Cowart breaks into the starting lineup, or is a situational pass rusher, or if less touted players raise their games, Muschamp will explore all possibilities.

"We're going to find our best four rushers," Muschamp said. "I don't know who they'll be right now. I feel certain that Carl will be one of them and Montravius (Adams) has shown some things that we can win in the single battles up front, but past that we need some guys to step forward."