Montez Sweat | EDGE | Mississippi State
Height | 6-6
Weight | 245
Class | Senior
A two-year starter, Sweat established himself as one of the top SEC edge rushers, where he amassed 22 sacks in two seasons. He and defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons made a great tandem, combining for 58.5 tackles for loss. Sweat put his hand in the dirt and stood up off the edge in Mississippi State’s 4-3 scheme.
Sweat is a momentum rusher with the initial quickness, long-striding speed, and extension through his long arms to attack and separate from blocks. Sweat can be easily slowed at contact and is missing a power element to his. He isn’t a point-of-attack player and allows blockers to knock him off balance. Along with that, he lacks mobility which hinders his ability to turn the corner.
Overall, Sweat possesses good explosiveness of the line of scrimmage, using his huge wingspan to detach from blockers. Solid ability against the run, he has great identification of the football and has adequate open field pursuit. He must become stronger at the point of attack and isn’t going to thrive at bending the edge. Sweat projects best in a 4-3 defense where he’s able to use his length to defend the run and rush the passer.
