Emmanuel Acho questions Bengals’ decision to trade a first for Lawrence
Acho’s beef with it comes down to sack numbers
A few hours after the Cincinnati Bengals shocked the league by trading the No. 10 overall pick to the New York Giants for Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, Emmanuel Acho sat behind the desk at Speakeasy and refused to pretend he liked the deal.
The former NFL linebacker-turned-analyst has never been shy about challenging a consensus take, and the argument Sunday was not about Lawrence’s talent. It was about whether 2025 sack production justifies a top-10 pick for an interior lineman.
“Dexter Lawrence is a top 5 defensive tackle,” Acho said on Speakeasy, “but YOU DON’T TRADE A FIRST ROUND PICK UNLESS THEY GETTING SACKS!”
The number cutting against Cincinnati here is real. Lawrence finished last season with 0.5 sacks across 17 games, down from a career-high nine in 2024. Per ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, Lawrence’s pressure rate fell from 9.6% in 2024 to 5.9% in 2025, citing NFL Next Gen Stats.
“Dexter Lawrence is a top 5 defensive tackle, but YOU DON’T TRADE A FIRST ROUND PICK UNLESS THEY GETTING SACKS!”
– @EmmanuelAcho is not the biggest fan of the Dexter Lawrence trade to the Cincinnati Bengals
WE ARE LIVE RIGHT NOW ⬇️ https://t.co/f4H3dQB55c pic.twitter.com/Ew5GkGqaug
— Speakeasy (@speakeasytlkshw) April 20, 2026
The Bengals also handed Lawrence a one-year, $28 million extension, keeping him in Cincinnati through 2028, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. According to ESPN Research, this is the first time the franchise has traded a top-10 pick for a player in the common draft era.
Zac Taylor and Duke Tobin clearly see something Acho does not. Lawrence leads the NFL in nose-tackle pressures over the past four seasons, according to NFL Research, and draws double teams at a rate unmatched among interior defenders. That kind of gravity reshapes a defense that allowed the third-most points in football last year.
Acho is not wrong to ask the question, though. Cincinnati paid as if Lawrence is still the nine-sack version of himself, not the double-team magnet whose counting stats collapsed last year. Whether that bet pays off is probably the Bengals’ defining storyline heading into the season.
