What’s the Deal with Montez Sweat, Really?
May 8, 2019
by Steve Thomas
The entire football world knew that the departure of Preston Smith meant that the Redskins had a pretty dire need for an edge rusher. In fact, I would argue that the need existed at some level even with Smith on the roster. Fortunately, the team was smart enough to move up back into round one of the draft two Thursdays ago, after the selection of quarterback Dwayne Haskins in order to draft Mississippi St. defensive end Montez Sweat.
Sweat, who is from Georgia, originally committed to Michigan St and played one game there in 2014, then redshirted in 2015 before transferring to Copiah-Lincoln Community College for the 2016 season. He then transferred to Mississippi St. for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Sweat played a total of 27 games in his one season at Michigan St. and two at Mississippi St., with 105 tackles, including 50 solo and 55 assisted tackles, and 23.5 sacks. He played 13 games in 2018, making 53 total tackles, including 27 solo and 26 assisted tackles, and 12 sacks. He was selected as a Second Team AP All-American and First Team All-SEC in 2018 and was generally regarded as the top, or one of the top, pass rushers in the SEC.
Montez had a strong showing in the objective measurables portion of the NFL Combine, including an eye-popping the 40 yard dash time that drew national attention, a wide receiver-like 4.41 seconds (1st among edge rushers and tied for 16th overall; 2nd behind running back Justice Hill among all non-receivers and defensive backs). He ran the 20 yard short shuttle in 4.29 seconds (5th among edge rushers) and jumped 36 inches in the vertical leap (6th among edge rushers) and 10’5” inches in the standing broad jump (4th among edge rushers).
Sweat’s only real competition for the day one starting job is third year player Ryan Anderson from Alabama. To date, Anderson has not produced starting-level results, so it stands to reason that Sweat has a good chance of rising to the top of the depth chart immediately. Given that situation, figuring out what Sweat can really bring to the field is particularly relevant.
My usual disclaimers apply here – I’m not a football scout, #notascout, and don’t pretend to be. I’m just a guy who loves football, knows at least something about it, and has a platform to do things like write and publish a string of player analysis pieces. This disclaimer is particularly relevant when it comes to defensive linemen, as I never played the position at any level. The point is, take my observations for what you will. I don’t claim to be Charles Mann. With that having been said, let’s get into it.
Film study
The first and most important thing you should understand is that Montez Sweat is not and should not be an NFL 3 – 4 outside linebacker. This player is a true hand-in-the-dirt, 4 – 3 defensive end who plays from a 3 point stance, and the Redskins need to treat him as such in order to maximize his talents. Sweat only very rarely played in coverage in college. He has little if any experience in, and did not appear to my unexpert eyes to have the mobility or flexibility to be an asset in, zone coverage. If we see Montez falling back in coverage to any significant degree, we’ll know that the Redskins are trying to make a player fit into the scheme and not adapting the scheme to fit the player. He was one of the best defensive ends in the country in college and the Redskins need to play to his strengths, not force him to be something he’s not. Fortunately, the Redskins are in nickel defense quite a bit, so keep your fingers crossed that he won’t have to drop into coverage much.
Sweat is first and foremost known as a pass rusher, and he didn’t disappoint in college. Here are clips of some of his sacks and quarterback hits against Auburn and Alabama in 2018 (Sweat is #9):
In the first play, Sweat (on the defensive left edge) shows ability by cutting inside of the right tackle to get a hit on the quarterback, who was off balance and failed to set his base. On the second play, Sweat (again on the left edge), is just flat-out too fast for the tackle and turns the corner to get the sack. In the third play, Montez does almost the exact same thing to the same player, turning the corner on a tackle who is not fast or athletic enough to handle him. Yes, the fourth play looks familiar – please ignore the fact that I accidentally put the same play in this series of clips twice, I’m not going to go back and fix it. #amateurhour. In the final clip, Montez (on the left edge at the top of your screen) yet again beats that same right tackle to turn the corner and get to the quarterback. What’s the moral of the story? Sometimes Sweat is just too fast when he’s facing tackles who aren’t overly athletic. It will be more difficult to get to the quarterback in the same manner in the NFL, and he’ll have to rely on more advanced moves that will come with coaching.
Sweat looks like he has a fairly lean frame by defense end standards, but plays with more strength than you might think. Check out this example from Mississippi St.’s game against Alabama this past season:
In this play, Sweat, who is lined up on the defensive left edge again (closest player on the left in a three point stance), locks up with the right guard face-to-face and is able to push him back several yards. The play doesn’t amount to much, necessarily, but it’s nonetheless a good example of Sweat’s play strength.
Montez has very good ability to diagnose the play in run defense and pursue the back from the back side when necessary. He’s a smart player who is almost always in the right place and understands what he has to do in order to make a stop. Check out this example:
This play (Sweat is the left defensive end at the top of your screen) is a good example of what Sweat does best in run defense: penetrate a backfield, quickly and accurately diagnose the play, and pursue the running back from the back side to make a stop. There are countless examples of this type of play by Sweat, and this should translate to the NFL fairly well immediately.
He’s the part where I have to be honest. You guys pay me (????) to tell the unvarnished truth, so here it is: I was expecting to see more. Sweat’s amazing 40 yard dash at the Combine and his other performances that day had the world collectively drooling about his pass rushing abilities. I saw an end with a good first step, but not one that was as explosive as I hoped. He can turn the corner on tackles, but in my opinion his athletic ability is not in the caliber of elite NFL edge rushers and his 4.4 speed does not seem to translate to the field as much as I had hoped. My fear is that his 40 time is more track speed than football speed. I didn’t see the sort of elite speed on his film that you’d expect from someone who runs in the 4.4 range. Also, while (as I said above), Sweat can use his athletic ability and play strength to his advantage, the opposite is true when matched up against better tackles. Watch these clips, both from Mississippi St.’s game against Kentucky in 2018:
In the first play (Sweat is on the left edge at the bottom of your screen), Sweat gets manhandled by the right guard. Sweat’s job here is certainly to set the edge and force the running back inside, which he does, but the tackle blocks and controls Sweat and is able to move him backwards off of his spot. Certainly, over the course of many games, this sort of thing happens to every player, but I saw this happen multiple times. My takeaway is that while Sweat does have good play strength considering his body type, he might not be able to match up well against bigger, more powerful NFL tackles. In the second play, Montez (left edge, top of your screen), gets caught up in traffic, but isn’t strong enough to significantly move the offensive lineman or disengage from the block before the running back runs by him. While there many have been a hold on that play, it nonetheless is another representative sample of one of his weaknesses. Finally, here’s an example of Montez being blocked in a pass rush against Auburn (from 2018):
This play (Sweat is again on the left edge, bottom of your screen) isn’t the end of the world or all that unusual, and is going to happen to every defensive end, no matter how good. My point is that he’s not a perfect player, and to my unexpert eyes, his overall impact was less than I expected and hoped. In my opinion, his film was that of a good but not great pass rusher. I think Montez will benefit and improve in pass rushing through NFL coaching. In the run game, his best quality is his ability to diagnose a play and pursue the ball carrier, but he isn’t quick or strong enough to beat the most athletic and/or strongest NFL lineman. At least that was my observation. Feel free to tell me that I’m wrong, because it’s certainly possible.
What do you think? Let me know in the comment section below.