Texas Lands 3-Star Defensive Lineman T’Vondre Sweat

One of the most frequent questions we are asked on the board is when the next commitment is dropping.  More often than not, the response is that it could be today, tomorrow, or whenever a kid feels like putting an end to his process and going public with his commitment. Recruiting is a very fluid process and things are constantly changing both publicly and privately. It makes it very tough and frustrating to cover, especially when you try to stay one step ahead of high school juniors and seniors.

95% of the kids we cover like to consume the spotlight and play the recruiting game, while the other 5% just like to keep to themselves and get through the process with very little fanfare and media coverage. Huntsville High School defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat falls in that 5%.

Sweat has held a Texas offer for some time now and today he woke up and decided that he wanted to be Longhorn and made the call. No videos, no lists, no emojis… just a simple change to his Twitter bio and a tweet with a few pictures. Game over. It’s refreshing isn’t it?

Several had Sweat pegged to end up with Texas A&M early on, but with his thumb down and his horns up, he is heading to Austin to play for Tom Herman

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Pros:

• Possesses a great frame that will translate well to Todd Orlando’s odd front defense. Can see him lining up at end or kicking inside to nose.
• Possesses long arms that will prove to be a problem as he continues to develop his technique.
• Shows flashes of putting it all together from snap to finishing at the ball carrier. Dripping with potential that just needs to be unlocked.
• Functional strength doesn’t appear to be an issue, as he shows the ability to toss guys around.
• Shows that he will make the hustle plays in pursuit.
• Possesses decent pop in his hands when he uses them.
• Plays with a bit of a bully mentality. [/one-half-first]

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Cons:

• Walks off the ball too much for my liking. Needs to improve on getting off at the snap.
• Very raw from a technique standpoint at this stage of his development. Needs to improve on his hand usage.
• Has the ability to dominate his competition, but you don’t see it enough on tape. Quality of the tape could be a factor here, but it is something to note.
• Want to see him become a more explosive player from his junior to senior year.

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Summary

T’Vondre Sweat is a soon to be three year varsity starter for Huntsville HS (TX), who has the look of a future collegiate interior defensive lineman.  Sweat possesses a solid frame at 6’3, 249 and will continue to fill out physically as he ages and hits a college weight room program. Looks like a guy that will easily put on another 25 pounds or so within his first year or two in college, which is why I think he is destined for defensive tackle rather than playing on the edge. Sweat didn’t test off the charts athletically, but he shows good athleticism and a lot of untapped potential on tape that can be unlocked with time and the right coach. Very raw from a technique standpoint at this stage in his development and gets by on brute strength, athleticism, and effort. Possesses good length and power in his hands, but doesn’t use it to his advantage consistently just yet. Sweat shows flashes of putting these tools to use at times, which makes me hopeful over the long run, as he still has another year in high school plus 4-5 years of college coaching. He is pretty stout at the POA and you don’t see him getting pushed off the LOS very often if at all. Sweat needs to improve his first step and his get off at the snap, as he is often tardy when the ball is snapped. Again this is something that can be coached and easily improved in time, but it was something that I consistently saw from his sophomore and junior tapes. Overall, Sweat has the tools and ability to be the kind of player that can dominate the level of competition he plays, but he hasn’t shown to be that player just yet, which leads me to think he is appropriately ranked at this time.

Final Verdict

It took a little longer than most anticipated, but in a bit of a surprise today Texas added a nice defensive line prospect in Sweat. This was one of those refreshing commitments that don’t happen too often these days given the attention and spotlight that comes with the recruiting process. There was no look at me tweets, posts, edits, videos, or social media hyping. Just an update to his profile and one tweet sent out and away he went.

Texas arrived to the party pretty early on Sweat along with Texas A&M and others, which showed what they thought of his ability and they didn’t hesitate in taking his commitment. I don’t think this is a “fauxmentum” type of take either, as Sweat is the kind of player that possesses a good amount of upside and could develop into a monster down the line. With that said, I think as things sit right now he is a no –brainer for a redshirt so that he can spend time with Yancy McKnight and spend more time in the incubator as he gets coached up by Oscar Giles.

Sweat is an intriguing prospect that still has a lot of growing left to do and could be a candidate that puts together  monster senior year before making his way to Austin.