Welcome to Purple & Gold Prospects!

This will be an ongoing series to get Vikings fans familiar with upcoming draft prospects. The focus of this series will be to cover prominent prospects entering the upcoming NFL Draft. The series will center on the position groups of highest need on the current Vikings roster, but will also cover stand out players across the spectrum. I hope you will join me on this continuing journey to learn more about upcoming draft classes.

With that let’s discover the possible future of your Minnesota Vikings!

Background

Height: 6042

Weight: 364 lbs.

T’Vondre Sweat was a 3-star recruit out of Huntsville High School in Huntsville, Texas. His time in Huntsville earned Sweat a few major offers, including Alabama and Oklahoma, but eventually he chose to stay local and committed to the Texas Longhorns for the 2019 season. Sweat has developed nicely over his career with Texas including an outstanding 2023 campaign in which he amassed 45 tackles (including 8 for a loss), 2 sacks, and 4 passes defended. He has become a stalwart on the interior for that Longhorns defensive line and has positioned himself well to go Day 2 in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Games watched: Alabama 2023, Iowa State 2023, Kansas 2023

Strengths

The first thing that stands out is T’Vondre Sweat’s size. He is a mammoth of a defensive tackle standing at 6-4 and 364 lbs. Sweat is an absolutely immovable object on the interior. He anchors extremely well in the run game, standing up to double and even triple teams at times. Sweat consistently soaks up multiple defenders and run lanes with his size allowing openings for teammates. Because he takes up so much space he forces running backs to cut and take different lanes consistently. His eyes are always in the backfield, often getting his hands into passing lanes which led to back to back seasons with 4 batted passes. In one on one situations he uses his strength and powerful strikes to push back into the pocket and make tackles behind the LOS. He displays good hand fighting and placement to keep offensive linemen off-balance and not allowing them to engage. Sweat doesn’t get fooled by cut blocks. He recognizes them immediately and hesitates to allow the linemen to fall so he can move over them. Sweat also displays a nice repertoire of pass rush moves including a very good swim move. When he has good leverage he is easily able to shed blockers and make plays on the ball carrier.

Weaknesses

Although he has the power to collapse the pocket he does not present much pass rush upside. Due to his size his speed and lateral agility are limited. He cannot pursue very well or drive at the QB with consistency. He also has frequent leverage issues. His pad level is often too high and he gets stood upright too often. He and can also be stalled out by much smaller offensive linemen due to these issues. When he allows opponents to get into his chest or and gain leverage, he can really struggle to disengage. Sweat has adequate arm length for the position but needs to utilize it with more consistency. This will help him with leverage issues and keeping opposing offensive linemen at bay.

Conclusion

T’Vondre Sweat is an intriguing prospect. He will make an impressive run-stuffing defensive linemen at the next level with his size and ability to anchor. However, he will probably fall a little due to his limited upside in rushing the passer. For the Vikings he would pair well on the interior with Harrison Phillips. He might not offer the pass rush ability that is lacking on the defensive line but should immediately make that D-Line one of the hardest to run up the middle against. And his ability to deflect passes should not be understated and helps make up for his speed and pass rushing deficiencies. I don’t think he will offer the upside teams are looking for to sneak into the first round but I believe he will still go anywhere in the second come next April.

Grade

Anchor/Run Defense: 9.5 / 10

Awareness: 9.3 / 10

Burst/Quickness: 7.5 / 10

Counters: 7.5 / 10

Pad Level/Leverage: 7.5 / 10

Pass Rush/Penetration: 8 / 10

Play Speed/Agility: 7 / 10

Power: 9.2 / 10

Size/Length: 9.5 / 10

Tackling: 7.5 / 10

OVERALL: 82.5 – Second Round