NFL Draft Film Breakdown: Is T'Vondre Sweat Perfect Fit for Cincinnati Bengals?

Cincinnati has the 18th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Author:
Mike Santagata
Publish date:
Feb 21, 2024 8:18 AM EST

In this story:

T’Vondre Sweat is a mammoth of a man at 6-4, 362 pounds. Sweat won the Outland Trophy in 2023, which is given to the best lineman in the country.

He was also a unanimous first team All-American, and won the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Award. This is incredible for any player, but it's unbelievable to see from a nose tackle. That position doesn’t usually get the glory, but Sweat became the outlier.

Prior to this season, the former 3-star recruit was only listed as a preseason All-Big 12 Second Team, so he wasn't expected to dominate college football the way he did in 2023.

Let’s get into what makes him a special player and just how he took over this past season.

Where He Excels

Sweat is pretty much unmovable against double teams and combo blocks. This ability is paramount to success as a nose tackle and it’s one of the things that he does best. Not only does he free up his linebackers by keeping these guys off of them, but he'll still make the play despite being doubled or combo blocked, which is amazing.

Sweat is not common for a 350+ pound defensive tackle. Unlike most of those guys, he can actually move. He can fire off of the ball and win with his get off either into his gap or slanting across the face of the opposing offensive lineman.

Sweat has strength to match his size and has the ability to reset the line of scrimmage when teams dare to block him one-on-one in the run game. He will take his opposition and drive them back into the ball carrier when he gets the chance.

His strength in the run game translates to his ability as a pass rusher. He has plenty of juice to squeeze the pocket and bull rush his opponents against their will.

Variety of violent pass rush moves in his arsenal. He has even displayed some counter moves and stringing moves together to get himself clean as a pass rusher.

He does a great job of reading the opposing offensive linemen to know what’s coming his way. He reads his keys and is in a position to make a play frequently.

Areas of Concern

Sweat's pad level can get high and even though it did not matter too much at the collegiate level, it is something he will need to work on at the NFL level.

He's a bit raw with his hands. Even though he has a variety of moves and they are devastating when they land, currently his timing and placement of these moves hurts him. Too often he will miss these moves and then get clamped by opposing offensive linemen.

Reports from some insiders that prior to this season he had motivation concerns about football. This was compounded with him not weighing in at the senior bowl. He needs to show up at a good weight at the NFL Combine to show the NFL that he’s serious about playing at the next level.

Overall Thoughts

Sweat is the total package at nose tackle.

With the ability to render double teams useless and to demolish his opposition when he’s singled up, Sweat is the ultimate run defender in the middle of the defense.

He does everything that is asked of him as a run defender and wins with mammoth size, has surprising movement ability, processing, and strength. He looks to be a guy that you can essentially plug and play and expect good production against the run as a rookie. His ability to read his opposition and react at a high level is important to the next level where everything will be moving faster.

He needs to work on keeping his pads low, which is a common problem for tall defensive tackles, but overall it feels like this will be his calling card at the next level. Not just making plays for himself, but making an entire run defense better because he will free things up for everyone around him as they try to make sure he will not destroy the offensive game plan on the ground. He's a true force multiplier against the run.

Sweat is surprising as a pass rusher. Most nose tackles can just push the pocket a little bit and that’s about it for them, but Sweat has shown the potential to be one of the more rare nose tackles that not only pushes the pocket but also has moves to win around the lineman as well. This violent array of clubs and snatches work well with his bull rush. He’s also a guy that frees things up for his teammates in this area as well.

He was used as the penetrator on stunts and frequently freed up fellow defensive tackle Byron Murphy for pressures and sacks. His pass rush ability is not fully there yet, but he has the potential to provide more juice than you would expect out of a nose tackle.

Scheme Fit

Sweat probably fits best with a team that’s going to play an odd front as a true nose tackle head up over the center on base downs. He can two gap, free things up for everyone else, and then still be used as a weapon on slants and stunts as well.

Draft Grade

Late First Round

Pro Comparison

Dontari Poe

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