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Former American Press sportswriter Carl Dubois blogs about the games people play, in and out of sports, and the people you meet between and outside the lines.

Carl is an award-winning reporter and columnist living in the Willamette Valley in northwest Oregon, near Portland. He is sports editor of the News-Register newspaper in McMinnville, Ore.

Thoughts on Quinten Lawrence

Posted April 29, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Filed Under People, Sports | Leave a Comment

BATON ROUGE — I asked Kent Babb, a friend who covers the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star, his initial thoughts on the NFL team’s drafting of McNeese wide receiver Quinten Lawrence in the sixth round.

“I think the Chiefs see Lawrence only as a return guy,” he responded by e-mail. “They’ve drafted guys the past two years in hopes of finding a solid returner, and they just haven’t had any luck. I was initially perplexed by them taking Lawrence, but that’s when I thought they saw him as an upgrade to a pretty bad group of receivers. I feel more confident about it if he’s a solid return man, which is a definite need.

“The guy the Chiefs drafted last year with returning in mind, Kevin Robinson, was let go a couple weeks back. The other obvious returner is Jamaal Charles, the former Texas running back, but he’ll probably be Larry Johnson’s backup (assuming Johnson is still with the team when the season starts), Charles is too valuable to return kicks. To that end, I expect Lawrence to make the team.”

Lawrence was the 175th player drafted during the weekend.

From McNeese sports information:

He will head to the NFL after becoming one of the all-time leading pass receivers in McNeese State history, earning all-Southland Conference honors and being named the team MVP in 2005 as a freshman.

Lawrence, who played at 6-1 and 185 pounds, has also had experience as a punt and kickoff returner and during the past season saw some action as a defensive back. The native of Carencro concluded his career with the Cowboys with 99 pass receptions for 1,905 yards and 15 touchdowns, He was injured in the Cowboys’ fifth game this past year and did not play again.

Lawrence returned 22 kickoffs for 419 yards and a 19.0 yard average. He also had one punt return in 2008 for a 70 yard touchdown. He was the only Cowboy drafted by the NFL but several others are expected to sign free agent contracts in the coming weeks.