T'Vondre Sweat Is Ready To Make An Impact In The NFL
By Peter Andrisani (The Mock Draft Guy)
I’ll be honest with you all, I sat in front of my computer for an embarrassing amount of time trying to come up with the perfect way to describe just how large the focal point of today’s prospect profile is, and this is what I came up with.
Here it goes: T’Vondre Sweat is a huge human being. How was that? Anyway, let’s get into a deep dive into one of the Longhorn's most talented players.
STRENGTHS
T’Vondre Sweat has no business being as athletic as he is for his tremendous, imposing physique. Sweat is 6’4 and weighs in at 362 pounds. Truly a throwback frame since we don’t see too many players with this much mass in the NFL anymore. Sweats frame is perfectly proportioned to play on the interior, with a massive lower half, and incredible overall strength up top.
In the rare 1-on-1 blocking reps, it’s pretty comical to watch Sweat. He can either use his tremendous explosive strength to swat the offensive lineman’s hands away, or he uses an awesome, and surprisingly quick swim move to blast through a gap and blow up the pocket. What I like about Sweat in these situations is his active hands. If he doesn’t hit home on the rep, he makes sure to make himself big, gets his hands up to bat passes, and disrupts the quarterback's vision. He is physical and violent, can play with heavy hands, and has a bit of a mean streak.
Now, because of how dominant he is in 1-on-1 situations, Sweat is often double-teamed. But even most double teams aren’t too effective, as Sweat concedes little to no ground against them, and can fight back against pressure to stay in his gap if slanting puts him out of position. His sheer power and mass are incredibly difficult to deal with. Even if Sweat isn’t necessarily making a play, he’s impacting the play by eating up multiple blocks and space.
Now against the run and behind the line of scrimmage is where Sweat shines. Sweat's sheer power makes shedding blocks easy, and he shows some tremendous short-area quickness to make a play. Sweat is a fantastic wrap-up tackler as well, and his overall technique rarely fails him. Whether that be as a pass rusher or as a run defender, he always engages his blocker with a wide, solid base, and is rarely off-balance. Sweat also shows good play recognition and blows up screens to the running back, and in breaking screens.
WEAKNESSES
T’Vondre Sweat, like every other prospect, has his fair share of weaknesses and areas he can improve upon. Now talking about a 362-pound prospect, let’s be real here, I think Sweat needs to drop down to his weight as a junior, which was around 340-345 pounds. At his current weight, his gas tank isn’t anything to write home about. The effort and motor are there consistently, but he needs to take plays off to regroup. I’d say for as truly athletic as he is, he would be even more difficult to deal with if he trimmed down to about 340.
This is out of Sweat's control, but the nose tackle positional value isn’t necessarily sky-high right now in today’s pass-happy NFL. You don’t have teams banging down the door to draft a player who is going to play approximately 60-65% of your snaps. Sweat isn’t a player who is going to see the field on a lot of third downs unless they’re in the red zone or against heavy personnel 12 or 13 personnel.
You can tell when Sweat is tired on tape, he tends to hop up out of his stance into almost a standing position, generating no push off the line of scrimmage. As the game goes on, Sweat isn’t as quick off the ball as I would like, he lacks quickness off the line of scrimmage, and his block shedding in run defending will become inconsistent. His hands will become late in pass-rushing snaps, allowing the blockers to get significant contact against him. I think all of these issues can be solved, or improved by slimming down just a little, getting back to my first point.
SCHEME FIT
In terms of a scheme fit for T’vondre Sweat. Well, let’s say this one is pretty easy to determine. Due to his incredible size, his ability to eat up space, as well as multiple blockers on most snaps, Sweat is a natural fit as a two-gapping nose tackle in the NFL. He can move the pocket from the interior, clog up running lanes, and make significant plays against the run.
TEAM FITS
Here are five teams that I think can look to draft T’Vondre Sweat in the 2024 NFL Draft:
The Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags need a big time overall on their defensive line. Nose tackle could be a position they look to upgrade or just any position on the line.
The Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers probably have the thinnest defensive line in the entire NFL. They will look to replenish through the draft, with some big bodies.
The Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks are in the same boat as the Chargers. Especially with Jarren Reed and Leonard Williams set to become free agents, the Hawks might look to get younger and bigger on the line.
The Cincinnati Bengals. DJ Reader is set to become a free agent, and with the Bengals having to pay some big-time stars soon, they will most likely let him walk, and Sweat is a natural replacement.
Finally, The Denver Broncos. Oof, the Denver Broncos' defensive line needs a complete overhaul, getting Sweat would set them up, especially against the run.
PRO COMPARISON
My pro comparison for T’Vondre Sweat is Damon “Snacks” Harrison. Much like Sweat, Harrison was a force against the run, and would always eat up multiple blocks, as Harrison was a huge individual, standing at 6’3, 350 pounds in his own right. He was also able to push the pocket as a pass rusher, with a respectable 11 sacks over his career. I think Sweat can be even more of a force as a pass rusher from the Nose tackle position.
DRAFT PROJECTION
I’m not sure the ceiling for Sweat is going to create enough demand for him to be a highly coveted first-round prospect. That being said, there is value in today’s defensive trends that makes a player like Sweat a meaningful piece for an NFL defense. Forget about adding pass rush value, even though he absolutely can, Sweat can help you change the numbers in the box and your ability to defend the run. This is why I think T’Vondre Sweat will be a 2nd-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
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