‘Twitchy’ Jahiem Lawson ‘More Refined’ Than Brother Shaq Coming Out of High School

Shaq Lawson developed into a pretty productive player for Clemson.

The defensive end registered 20 sacks over a three year collegiate career, before being drafted in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.

Now Dabo Swinney and the Tigers are hoping another Lawson can carve out a similar path with the program. Younger brother Jahiem was a member of Clemson’s 2022 recruiting class, and Swinney thinks he is actually a little more refined than his older brother was coming out of high school.

“He’s twitchy. He’s got some violent hands,” Swinney said on signing day. “He’s a great effort guy, he’s instinctive. He’s much more refined than Shaq was coming out, obviously, just simply because he’s had an example for a long time.”

Lawson comes from Daniel High School, and has grown up playing with Swinney’s son, Drew, meaning the head coach is very familiar with what Lawson can do on the football field.

While Swinney has always liked the potential that Lawson has shown, he wanted to see more, and told Lawson as much before the start of his senior season.

“I challenged him last year,” Swinney said. “Because I just felt like he was good enough, but I told him, he’s gonna have to earn it and there were some things that I wanted to see in him. And man, he did it.”

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound edge rusher went on to turn in what Swinney termed as a dominant senior year. He was credited with 75 tackles, 25 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in his final season.

“I’m just really proud of him in his development,” Swinney said. “He was a dominant player this year. He dominated every game. And I saw every game but one. He dominated He dominated the playoffs. Then goes and dominates the all-star game. I mean, he’s a really really good prospect.”

Swinney added that Lawson will be a true edge rusher for the Tigers and that if he continues to put in the work, he has a chance to be a successful player.

“He’s got a chance to be a really… he’ll be a true edge guy,” Swinney said. “So, you know, he’s got a chance to be a good player if he’ll continue to put the work.”