In 2012, he started all 13 games, earning second-team All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) honors after recording 63 tackles, four for loss, two sacks and ten pass break-ups.
On May 1, 2014, Lawson attended Utah State's pro day and opted to perform all of the combine drills, except for the bench press.
Scouting reports said Lawson was a durable and productive player who has a muscular build, good man coverage skills, and the ability to read and react quickly.
[7] During the training camp in his rookie season, Lawson competed for the starting cornerback job against Bill Bentley, Rashean Mathis, Aaron Hester, Jonte Green, and Cassius Vaughn.
Head coach Jim Caldwell named Lawson the Lions' fourth cornerback to begin his rookie season, behind Darius Slay, Mathis, and Bentley.
[8] He made his professional regular season debut during the Lions' season-opening 35–14 victory over the New York Giants and finished with one solo tackle.
[10][11] Lawson entered training camp competing with Crezdon Butler, Chris Owens, and Quandre Diggs for the third cornerback position.
[12] On November 1, 2015, Lawson earned the first start of his career and had a season-high seven combined tackles and a pass deflection during a 45–10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
He started in place of Mathis who was unable to play after suffering from recurring symptoms from a concussion he received during a Week 7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
[9] Throughout training camp in 2016, he competed with Quandre Diggs, Crezdon Butler, and Alex Carter for the starting cornerback job.
He was named one of the starting cornerbacks with Darius Slay after winning the job of free agent acquisition D. J. Hayden and rookie Teez Tabor.
[9] During Week 10 game against the Cleveland Browns, Lawson forced a fumble from Seth DeValve and returned it 44 yards for his first career touchdown.
[23] In Week 10 against the Broncos, Lawson forced a fumble on wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton and recovered the ball himself during the 37–12 win.