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The NFL combine couldn’t get enough of draft prospect T’Vontre Sweat, and at 6-foot-4, 366 pounds, there’s plenty of Sweat to go around. The 2023 Outland Trophy winnerr, awarded to the best IDL in the nation, was captivating audiences during testing and quickly becoming one of the more polarizing figures in the process.
After speculation earlier in the week circulated Sweat could weigh in north of 380-pounds for the event, 366 came off looking downright svelte on the 22-year-old behemoth. Even still, he checked in at the second-heaviest weight in the last 25 years, making him a magnet for the camera and the topic of many conversations around the NFL and within Cowboys Nation.
Coming off a season in which the middle of the defense was thoroughly exposed, the Cowboys are in the market for upgrades to their defensive interior. Finding a stout run stopper who can both 2-gap and protect LBs headlines the offseason to do list in Dallas. And Sweat fits that bill to a T.
Zimmer needs according to Will McClay: Big up front. Then speed and versatility.
— Ben Larimore (@larimore_ben) February 29, 2024
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Will McClay was asked about the difference between filling needs for Dan Quinn and filling needs for Mike Zimmer and he swerved directly to the topic of inside girth:
“We’re probably going to look more so at those bigger bodies inside,” McClay said. “…we want to find the ingredients for their recipe.”
The Cowboys added a bigger body last year when they drafted the 6-foot-3, 337-pound Mazi Smith with their first pick. All that got them was 304 defensive snaps of production after Smith inexplicably cut weight. Why exactly they drafted a brisket that immediately became ribeye is topic for a different day. But the coaching change at defensive coordinator means a preference change in the defensive interior and just about everybody recognizes a need for more size inside on the Dallas defense.
It sounds like a good fit for the man they call “meatloaf.”
“It’s been Loaf, Big Loaf, Meatloaf. Anything Loaf,” Sweat said of his most endearing nicknames.