Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher Carl Lawson had himself a promising rookie season in 2017. Despite playing just over 41 percent of the team’s snaps, he still finished with an impressive 8.5 sacks. That was good for second on the team behind Pro Bowler Geno Atkins and one ahead of Carlos Dunlap, who’s closing in on the franchise record of 83.5 currently held by Eddie Edwards.
However, Lawson plans on completely blowing that Bengals record away when it’s all said and done as he has his sights set on a lofty career sack total.
“If I stay here the whole time, tell Carlos I'll beat him,” Lawson said per Mark Inabinett of AL.com. “He wanted the rookie sack record. Hey, like I'm cool with that. But the all-time? If I stay here long enough, that's not happening. Look, I plan on having in my career at the very least 120. That's my plan if I stay healthy.”
It would obviously be an amazing accomplishment if Lawson can come anywhere close to that 120 sack mark. That number would put him in the top 20 all-time and above the likes of James Harrison and Warren Sapp. It would also be quite a feat if he recorded most, if not all, of those 120-plus sacks with the Bengals. He'd be a Cincy legend if he managed to do what he plans on doing.
Lawson flashed the type of talent during his rookie year that suggests that it’s at least within the realm of possibility that he reaches that incredible milestone. But he’ll also need a lot of hard work as well as a decent amount of good fortune to reach his goal, so the best luck to him.