Scouting Report: T'Vondre Sweat (IDL) - Texas
Sales Pitch: "Massive run stopping defensive tackle with heavy hands and long arms. A good athlete for his size but lacks the quickness or conditioning to be a true three down player. Early down rotational player who will improve any teams run defense."
Athletic Profile
Height: 6’ 4 1/2”
Weight: 366 lbs
Arm Length: 33 1/4”
Hand Size: 10 1/8”
40 Yard Dash: 5.27
10 Yard Split: 1.80
Vertical: 26”
Broad Jump: 8’ 2”
Short Shuttle: N/A
3-Cone: N/A
Age: 22
Relative Athletic Score: 4.28 / 10.00
Statistics
Career: 69 Pressures - 5 Sacks - 82 Tackles - 70 STOPs
2023: 31 Pressures - 2 Sacks - 28 Tackles - 26 STOPs
Strengths
Massive individual with rare size and weight
Collapses pockets with his powerful bull rush
17 batted balls in his career
Stout at the point of attack versus double teams
Length and read and react ability to play in 2 gap looks
Consistently takes on and neutralizes blocks in the run game
Fantastic stopping power as a tackler in the hole
Solid complement of pass rush moves
Weaknesses
Rotational player who will play mostly on early downs
Snap count and conditioning concerns come with his size
Lacks burst or quickness off the ball
Struggles to convert pressures into sacks due to lack of closing speed
Limited impact and versatility as a pass rusher
Pad level can get too high when moving laterally in the run game
Fails to bring down mobile QBs and smaller ball carries in the open field
Lacks lateral movement skills to be used on stunts and twists
Backside pursuit effort is lackluster
Summary
T’Vondre Sweat is a massive interior defensive lineman who is an exceptional run defender. The former 4-Star recruit from the state of Texas was one of the most impactful college football players in 2023. He won the Outland Trophy in 2023, as well as being the Big-12 DPOY and a 1st Team All-American. Sweat’s impact on the game comes mostly from his performance as a run defender. At 366 pounds he is in the 99th percentile for weight for defensive tackles and he uses every pound of it to shut down an opposing team’s run game. Sweat has the strength and anchor ability to take and neutralize double teams at the point of attack. He also shows the hand usage and football IQ to stand up blockers and play in a 2-gap scheme. No one is going to call Sweat a dynamic athlete but he moves well for his size, showing the requisite quickness and agility to defend against reach blocks and other horizontal runs. At 6’ 4” pad level can be a bit of a concern, Sweat tends to pop up when forced to move laterally and double teams that drive him horizontally generally get more push than downhill ones. Sweat doesn’t project to be an impactful pass rusher at the next level due to athletic limitations. While he has a solid collection of moves - including a nice push-pull and swim move - most of his pressure production comes as a bull rusher. He lacks the quickness or agility to consistently beat offensive lineman 1 on 1. Even when he does win a rep he lacks the closing speed to finish sacks (5 sacks in 62 career games) and QBs with adequate movement skills can easily evade him. Sweat does do a tremendous job getting his hands up in throwing lanes when his rush stalls, with 17 batted balls in his career. He has big hands (10 1/4”) and long arms (33 1/4”) that allow him disrupt offenses quick game. Sweat projects as a starting 1T in an even front or 0T in an odd front. He has the versatility to play in either a 1 or 2 gap run scheme. Sweat lacks the quickness or agility to ever be a dynamic pass rusher and conditioning concerns will limit his snap count for most of his career. However, he bring rare size and his ability to single handly improve a teams run defense brings tremendous value. Sweat’s draft range starts sometime mid Day-2 and he should be a Top-100 lock.