90 Days to Purdue Football: Lawrence Johnson

Purdue’s expectations for the 2022 season are cautiously optimistic coming off of a 9-4 year. One reason is the amount of experience returning, including today’s player.

Lawrence Johnson - Sr.

Fort Wayne, IN (Snider HS)

6’3”, 310 pounds

Defensive Tackle

2022 Projection: Starter

Experience in the middle of the defensive line is critical, and when you have a big senior like Johnson that you know is going to be a starter, that is a plus. Johnson has been a contributor from day 1, as he played in a pair of games as a true freshman in 2018. In 2019 he grew into a larger role. He played in all 12 games and made nine starts. He finished the year with 21 tackles as well.

In the abbreviated 2020 season he only made two starts and four tackles, but he played in all six games. That led to last year, when he had a career year of 34 tackles, 4.5 for loss, and a sack. The sack came at Notre Dame, while he had six tackles in the loss to Wisconsin.

Much will be asked to Johnson this year. He is going to be a key player when it comes to plugging the middle, but he should be ready for his best year yet.