T'Vondre Sweat scouting report: Exploring the Texas interior defensive lineman's strengths and weaknesses

A top-1000 overall recruit in 2019, T'Vondre Sweat saw limited action as a true freshman with the Longhorns, before becoming a key cog of the rotation up front year two onwards. Across the next three seasons, he combined for 74 total stops, 8.5 of those for loss and two sacks, along with eight PBUs.

He openly spoke about his increased investment this past season, which led to career highs across the board (45 total tackles, eight for loss, two sacks and four PBUs), the Big-12 Defensive Player of the Year award and first-team All-American recognition.

Profile: 6-foot-5, 340 pounds; RS SR.

Breaking down T'Vondre Sweat's scouting report

Run defense:

• This dude is a monster truck, who regularly is first to land his hands onto opponents in the run game
• Has the sturdy frame to not get bumped off his landmarks on down-blocks and giving him a chance to take a couple of steps up the field as the offense pulls someone denies the running back to stay on a tighter track initially
• You see some trap plays, where the puller is really loading up for contact, yet it’s nothing better than a stalemate with Sweat
• Has plenty of plays, where he’s dealing with down-blocks, rips through and circles around those guys in order to get involved with wrapping up the ball-carrier going through the opposite gap
• There are some impressive reps back-dooring centers on zone plays with a quick arm-over and standing there as the back tries to squeeze past or bounce runs
• When he sticks his foot in the ground and pursues the ball down the line, the speed for a man his size to chase down plays is pretty darn impressive
• Re-set the line of scrimmage on the vast majority of snaps in the 2023 Red River Rivalry – Oklahoma’s QB Dillon Gabriel was the only guy to find success rushing
• Only UCLA edge defender Laiatu Latu earned a higher overall PFF grade last season (91.7) and Sweat had the highest run-defense grade among all Power-5 defenders (92.0)

Pass-rush:

• Routinely is able to create that initial momentum and push up the middle of the pocket
• Packs a rapid two-handed downward swipe against interior pass-protectors trying to quick-set him, making them fold over and going right by them at times
• It’s a constant battle for guards and centers trying to re-fit their hands and find ways to set their base in order to keep him occupied when soloed up against Sweat, who swipes those paws off and eventually pulls them aside
• Capable of creating angles towards the quarterback even after allowing blockers to square him up, by lifting their arms upwards and ripping underneath them
• Once he gets to one shoulder of pass-protectors, at best they can take him off track enough to allow the QB to step up usually
• Provides the force to cave in one side of the protection and open up a lane for a looper to get through on games
• Finished tied for eight among interior D-linemen in the draft with 31 total pressures – on less than 300 pass-rush snaps – and added 21 “other pass-rush wins” according to PFF
• Consistently gets those big arms up as he’s closing in on quarterbacks (outside the pocket) in order to force them to put extra arc on passes

Weaknesses:

• Due to his height and center of gravity, Sweat quickly pops up out of his stance and if asked to play extensive snaps, that only gets worse (conditioning will remain a question)
• Angular blockers (on quick combos), who understand how to appropriately apply force to his hip or arm-pit, can get his body turned in the run game after being square in how he’s engaged with somebody else
• Frequently is late to redirect or get into pursuit mode, when the play is going away from him
• Doesn’t give you a whole lot of versatility as a pass-rusher, where he can take advantage of being singled up at times, but he’s not stringing moves together and slips through a crack between blockers, to flush the quarterback
• At this point doesn’t utilize his length and power optimally to truly overwhelm solo-blockers with the bull-rush

T'Vondre Sweat's 2024 NFL Draft prospect

Nobody in college football was as physically dominant at the line of scrimmage as T’Vondre Sweat last season. His ability to swallow double-teams but also become more of a play-maker in the run game when soloed up made Texas one of the toughest defenses to run the ball against (averaging a miniscule 2.9 yards per carry).

You’d like him to play a little lower still – especially watching teammate Byron Murphy fire off the ball next to him – and he’s not going to give you a whole lot in the pass-rush department as long as he doesn’t master his power-approach and the ways he can work off it.

With that being said, if you understand what he is, this guy can change how your defense operates, because he consistently demands and extra pair of hands and allows your linebackers to roam freely, while having the ability to put interior pass-protectors on skates occasionally.

For a mountain of a man like this, conditioning and how much he can play will always be a question, but he did earn his highest PFF grade (91.7) while playing a career-high 503 snaps last season. If Mazi Smith can go at the end of the first round last year, Sweat deserves to be a late second-rounder.

Grade: Top 50