T’Vondre Sweat didn’t truly become the NFL talent he is now until his fifth season at Texas.
In his first four years with the program, Sweat wasn’t a standout player. But he gradually improved each season, working his way up the depth chart.
In 2023, the defensive lineman blossomed into one of the best defenders in the country. He was a unanimous First Team All-American, just the 24th Longhorn to ever do so. Sweat was also named the Big 12 Player of the Year and won the Outland Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top defensive lineman.
He was then drafted in the second round by the Tennessee Titans in 2024, before being shipped off to the Jets Thursday for former first rounder Jermaine Johnson.
Before the Longhorns, Sweat starred at Huntsville High School (Texas). Sweat was an all-state and all-district defensive tackle. As a junior in 2017, he recorded 53 tackles and three sacks. In his senior campaign, he took an even bigger leap, winning District MVP. In one game that season, Sweat manhandled Texas A&M Consolidated for 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
That year, Sweat anchored a defense that allowed just 13.1 points per game, leading Huntsville to a 12-2 record. Because of his success, Huntsville head coach Rodney Southern correctly predicted Sweat would be in the NFL one day, per ESPN.
Sweat reaped the benefits in his recruiting process. As a three-star recruit and the No. 54 player in Texas, per 247Sports, he was swarmed with offers from top schools like Alabama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and of course, Texas.
He eventually chose the Longhorns in February of his senior year.
Sweat finished his Texas career with five sacks, 17.5 tackles for loss, 128 tackles and a forced fumble.
But what stands out to most people isn’t Sweat’s numbers. It’s his stature.
Sweat currently stands at 6-foot-4, 366 pounds, roughly 100 pounds more than what he weighed after graduating high school.
Still, Southern mentioned that Sweat “filled up the doorway” in their last high school meeting, ESPN reported.
With the Longhorns, Sweat took control of his weight advantage, forcing opponents to counter with multiple blockers and freeing up other linebackers. But he still often got his way.
“He makes big people look small. This dude’s a beast,” former Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford said. “He’s literally making people move out of his way.”
“He plays like a bully,” Jahdae Barron, now a defensive back with the Broncos, said. “A bully, in my eyes, is somebody that wants something and takes things from whoever they want. That’s who Sweat is as a player.”
Sweat racked up three sacks and 85 tackles in two years with the Titans. Now, his physicality will be put to use with the Jets, in their second year under Aaron Glenn.
The move is more of an upside play for New York. If Glenn can unlock the potential Sweat displayed at Texas, he can be a true game-wrecker.
