Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - With less than a month until the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, it's time to take another dive into a prospect that could be of interest for the Buffalo Bills in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Over the last two weeks, we've taken a look at a couple of top wide receiver prospects that could be available for the Bills with the 28th overall pick in Round 1. However, we will head over to the defensive side of the ball this week and examine the winner of the 2023 Outland Award, defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat from the University of Texas.
If drafted come April 25 in Detroit, Sweat could potentially be a perfect compliment to Ed Oliver in the middle of the Bills' defensive line.
Sweat is, basically, the defensive version of guard O’Cyrus Torrence, who I had Buffalo taking in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft over the course of several weeks last offseason.
The 22-year-old is a monster of a man, standing at 6-foot-4 and 362 pounds at the Senior Bowl. Sweat completely envelops opposing offensive lines, taking up double teams, and truly allowing his fellow defensive lineman to flourish.
In many ways, this is Sweat’s greatest asset, as players such as fellow Longhorn Byron Murphy were able to dominate in the pass rushing game. Murphy finished his junior season in Austin with 8.5 sacks from the interior.
Bills fans have already seen how good players like Oliver can be when he has an elite, big body player next to him. While playing next to the likes of DaQuan Jones and Linval Joseph, he was able to put up 9.5 sacks in 2023.
For the Bills, this is a need, as both Jones and Joseph are unrestricted free agents and on the other side of 30.
Sweat, however, will be on the older side for a rookie, turning 23 by the time training camp rolls around.
While in college, Sweat was not someone who put up amazing sack numbers, as he totaled just two sacks in his senior year.
At Texas, this didn’t seem to be his role, though. He was more about taking up offensive lineman and dominating the run game. But when a team did leave just one man on him, he has true game-wreaking ability with 45 total tackles and eight for loss.
Sweat is also fantastic at batting balls down, having four in each of his last two seasons in Austin.
What is maybe best for Buffalo is Sweat is not widely considered a clear-cut first-round pick this year, whereas his Texas teammate, Murphy, is.
Looking ahead, the Bills could have a draft similar to last year where they add an elite weapon for Allen in Round 1, and then come back in Round 2 with a solid addition to the trenches, someone whose size can be truly game-changing.
