Texas Football: Top 5 early 2024 NFL Draft Longhorns prospects
4. T’Vondre Sweat, DL
There is a big jump between the four or five Longhorns players I was considering for the final spot on this list (which Collins ultimately received) and the top four in the 2024 NFL Draft class.
The first Longhorns player that made the top four is the returning super senior interior defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat. The 6-foot-4 and 355-pound fifth-year defensive lineman is expected to be one of the stalwarts up front and one of the vocal leaders in the locker room for the Longhorns this year.
Sweat is coming off a career year last fall that saw him post the best defensive and run defense grades of his collegiate career to date. He blossomed into an impact pass rusher, consistently putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks up the middle with his quickness at the point of attack and his good hands.
Sweat registered a career-high 22 quarterback pressures and four QB hits last season. That was doubled his previous career best of 11 quarterback pressures and two QB hits from the 2020 season.
We also saw Sweat improve tremendously as a run-stopper up front for the Longhorns last season. He registered a career-best 14 run stops, with only two missed tackles on run plays. Sweat did a better job holding his gaps and finding the ball last season than we saw from him in run defense in prior years at Texas.
The improved instincts and non-stop motor we saw Sweat play with last season made a huge difference for Texas’ defensive line, which happened to be one of the most improved in the Big 12 year-over-year.
I would still like to see more out of Sweat in terms of finishing plays in the pass rush. He occasionally plays with poor pad level, which results in him getting pushed off trajectory when getting after the quarterback.
If he can get proper pad level on more pass rush plays next season, Sweat could easily become one of the most proficient interior defensive linemen in the sack department in the Big 12.