Film Room: T’Vondre Sweat, the mountain in the middle of the trenches

Texas defensive tackle could be long-term solution at nose

The Las Vegas Raiders could afford to add some depth at defensive tackle and, more specifically, a long-term solution at nose tackle. While the Raiders re-signed John Jenkins during free agency, Jenkins turns 35 years old in July and is only on a one-year deal. So, a good mid-round target for the Silver and Black is Texas’ T’Vondre Sweat.

The 6-foot-4.5 and 366-pound former Longhorn is a massive human being who can plug up gaps in the trenches. Last season, he led all FBS defensive tackles with a 92.0 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus and had the third-most defensive stops as a run defender (24) among Big 12 DTs while also ranking third with a 0.4-yard average depth of tackle.

Sweat also has upside as a pass-rusher after putting together a strong campaign in that department this past fall. His 85.3 PFF pass-rush grade, 31 pressures and 15.3 percent win rate were second in the conference at the position — only behind his teammate and potential first-round pick, Byron Murphy II.

So, let’s flip on the tape and see what the big man has to offer.

This first clip comes from the 2022 season where Sweat was a little lighter at a lean 346 pounds, if there is such a thing.

TCU is running lead power with an inverted read-option action in the backfield. That means Sweat (the left defensive tackle here) is going to get a down block from the guard, and he does a good job of recognizing it to help stay in his gap. At the point of contact, it’s easy to see how much strength he has as he stands up the guard and gains control of the block.

That allows the defensive tackle to get extension and once he sees the backfield action, he uses a nice arm-over move to escape and free himself up to make the tackle for about a half-yard gain.

I think the 340- to 345-pound range should be Sweat’s target playing weight at the next level so that he can still have enough strength to win at the point of attack while also having more nimbleness to make plays like this.

We’re hopping in the time machine and looking at a rep from this past season against Alabama where Sweat makes the play without making the play.

It’s another read-option only the Crimson Tide are using an inside zone run and aren’t inverting the quarterback and running back. With this look from the defense, the center is supposed to give the left guard more help on the defensive tackle, but he doesn’t which leaves the guard one-on-one against Sweat, which is a bad idea.

Again, Sweat’s upper body strength allows him to win at the point of attack and gain control of the block. He even resets the line of scrimmage about a yard into the backfield here and effectively takes away the backside A-gap. With the frontside defensive tackle also doing his job and the unblocked defensive end or read man squeezing down the line, the running back has nowhere to go and the defense gets a tackle for loss.

While this was certainly a team effort, it’s a good example of how offenses have to account for the massive nose tackle with two blockers as he’ll destroy one-on-one blocks. Any linebacker will appreciate that because they can roam free and show up on the box score with several easy tackles.

In case that last clip wasn’t a good enough example, this is pretty much the same play only Texas Tech is running a RPO instead of a read option. Again, when offenses don’t account for Sweat with two offensive linemen, he will eat guards alive and take away rushing lanes from running backs.

Here, he effectively cuts the field in half and forces the running back for a two-yard gain on first and 10. That puts the offense behind the sticks and can be a drive-killer.

One area of the Texas product’s game that improved from last season to this past one is his use of hands as a pass-rush. On this rep, he does a great job of knocking the center’s arms down which not only prevents the center from getting to his chest but also helps get the offensive lineman off-balance.

Sweat continues to show active hands by using his right hand/arm to club the center and executing a swim move with his left arm. While he doesn’t get the sack, he quickly recognizes that the quarterback has started his throwing motion and the defensive tackle puts those big paws in the air to bat the pass down. That forces the Red Raiders into a third-and-long situation.

Here’s an example of Sweat’s bread and butter as a pass-rusher. Oklahoma’s guard does a good job of flashing his hands to get Sweat to throw the chop we saw above which could or should get the defender off-balance. However, it doesn’t matter when it comes to the end result.

Sweat seamlessly transitions to using a long-arm move where his strength and length can take over. He has 33 1/4-inch arms and this is a good example of why that’s important and can help him be an effective pass-rusher.

Between the former Longhorn’s strength and length, there just isn’t much the guard can do as the guard can’t get to the 360-pounder’s chest to help stop or slow down his momentum. And with so much extension, the defender can escape to go get a quarterback hit.

This is a play that can impact the rest of the game because I can guarantee the quarterback doesn’t want to take another hit from that mountain of a man, leading to some happy feet in the pocket.

We’ll end with another physically dominant rep.

Washington runs a play-action pass while Texas slants the defensive line strong, putting Sweat one-on-one with the center. Once he recognizes that it’s a pass, he gets right into his pass-rush move and almost flawlessly executes a push-pull technique.

My only critique is I’d like to see him be able to flip his hips to clear his lower half, but if he can fold the center in half (hamburger style), that doesn’t matter much. Especially when it results in a quarterback hit.