NEVIN LAWSON
Position: Cornerback
Ht/Wt: 5-9, 192
School: Utah State
Experience: 4th season
Outlook: Lawson became a full-time starter for Teryl Austin's defense last year, starting all 16 games plus the playoff game in Seattle.
He earned a positive grade from Pro Football Focus for the season, finishing with 57 tackles and defending nine passes. He's a very physical corner, despite his small stature, which mean's he's a very willing and able tackler. Receivers notched just 73 yards after the catch on Lawson all of last season.
Opposing quarterbacks did complete 66 percent of their passes thrown at him for five touchdowns, however.
View photos of cornerback Nevin Lawson during the Detroit Lions training camp practice on Aug. 10, 2017.
One area which Lawson is looking to improve is getting his hands on more footballs and being more of a playmaker. He has yet to record an interception in 33 career games (25 starts).
Lawson has been the starter opposite Darius Slay all spring, summer and into training camp. He's the odds-on favorite to start the season with Slay.
Practice report: The best thing I can say about Lawson's day Thursday is that I barely noticed him, which for a cornerback, is a good thing. Lawson didn't get picked on much at all in the joint practice with the Colts.
He was dinked and dunked a couple times on crossing routes over the middle, but wasn't really challenged down the field for the most part. When he was, it was an incomplete pass because of the coverage.
He was also solid in 7-on-7 drills.
Lawson's had a good camp so far, and he's on solid ground to repeat as a starter in 2017.
Quotable: "He fights, he scratches, he digs and gets after it," Caldwell said of Lawson earlier this offseason. "You're going to get his best every single time, every single day, every single period. Meetings and outside of meetings. When a guy is giving you that kind of effort, you certainly appreciate it."
