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Carolina Chaos attackman Josh Zawada

Chaos bolster offense with versatile playmaker Josh Zawada

By Hayden Lewis | Mar 26, 2025

The Carolina Chaos had the Premier Lacrosse League’s top defense (110 scores against) in 2024 and the league’s worst offense (100 scores). The offense and defense were cut from an entirely different cloth.

New Chaos general manager Spencer Ford is aware of this issue. He made it clear that Carolina has a “Championship-ready defense” but needs its offense to reach that level.

Knowing the offense isn’t where it needs to be, Ford swung a trade, acquiring Denver Outlaws attackman Josh Zawada in exchange for the Chaos’ 2026 fourth-round draft pick. 

Zawada’s 16 points (6G, 10A) equaled Ross Scott's – Carolina’s top rookie scorer – total in 2024.

Ford said the trade for Zawada was focused on “adding another piece to an offense that we are trying to improve” – a piece with high potential in Carolina’s short- and long-term plans. 

“We have a young player with a great IQ and skill set that will enable us to be very competitive this season and beyond,” Ford said. 

The Raleigh, N.C., native flourished as a distributor in the Outlaws’ offense in 2024 because he’s a shifty dodger who is hard to cover. He’s also an adept inside scorer because of his smooth hands. Zawada can provide stretch shooting to an extent, but he won't be caught ripping many shots from deep (one two-point attempt last season).

Here’s a look at Zawada against the Chaos last year:

Zawada’s hockey stop behind the cage draws the slide from Jarrod Neumann, which the Duke product sniffs out immediately, leading to the inside feed to Eric Law for a nice finish.

The above clip is the bread and butter of the 6-foot-1 attackman’s game. 

“His skill set and ability to play multiple spots within the offense help us take another step,” Ford said. 

Zawada is a two-handed player who can also run out of the box as a midfielder. His skill set allows him to be dangerous from any part of the field. 

His IQ helps him tap into his skills and take advantage of defenses. In the above clip, Zawada reads that the Maryland defense isn’t settled, quickly restarts the offense and jumps into the pick game. He uses the Luke Wierman screen to his advantage and capitalizes with a nice right-handed sidearm shot.  

“His ability to play attack and or come out of the box will help us a great deal,” Ford said. 

Zawada also possesses high-end vision. His eyes are constantly scanning the field, which is why he translated as a consistent distributor for the Outlaws' offense. 

This clip features a broken offensive set from Denver, but watch Zawada behind the cage. He receives the pass and immediately scans the left side of the set from his perspective. He sees a Utah defender covering each of his teammates on that side of the field and immediately whips his head back to the right to find his open option for the two-pointer. 

Josh Byrne will own the lefty wing on the Chaos offense, and Scott earned the role behind the cage last season, so Zawada could man the righty wing or work out of the box. 

Zawada could also end up at X with a new coaching staff that isn’t afraid to change anything on the offensive side outside of Byrne. 

Regardless of where he lines up, Zawada's versatility and vision make him a valuable addition to a Chaos offense needing firepower. If he can replicate his Denver success, Carolina will have a foot in the right direction to upgrade its offense.

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