With off-season moves, such as free agency and the draft, complete and rosters beginning to take shape, it’s time to closely examine which IDP rookies could make an immediate impact. Which teams are going to jump-start the clock and roll with rookies? One team that likely will be starting an IDP rookie is the Tennessee Titans, with DT T’Vondre Sweat.
Rewind to the Past
The Tennessee Titans drafted T’Vondre Sweat in the 2nd round with the 38th overall pick. Sweat played his college career for the Texas Longhorns where he was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, won the Outland Trophy, and earned unanimous All-American honors. Sweat became just the fifth Longhorn defensive lineman to be named a unanimous All-American and first since Kenneth Sims (1981). During his time with the Longhorns, he played in 62 total games, making 18 starts, with totals of 128 total tackles, 47 solo stops, 36.7% solo rate, 17½ TFLs, five sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, one blocked kick, and 14 PBUs. The 14 pass breakups are a staggering number for a player of his size and who was used primarily as a run defender.
Back to the Future
With the Titans in the middle of a roster rebuild how they drafted would be and is crucial. While they still have star DT Jeffrey Simmons on the roster, they did let his starting mate Denico Autry leave in free agency and with no depth to speak of, it left a big void that needed to be filled. Most had Sweat graded as one of the top defensive tackles in the class and a few which had a 1st round grade on him. At 6’5”/366 lbs, he is exactly what the Titans needed for their interior defensive front. Sweat will line up at the nose tackle position and be counted on to eat up blockers and shut down running lanes. This is exactly what he did at Texas and shouldn’t have any issues transitioning to the NFL.
Fantasy Breakdown
In the world of IDP, we all know that the window for defensive tackles to be impact fantasy options is small, and for nose tackles it’s even smaller. That’s just how it is in the fantasy world. However, there are leagues where the scoring and position setting can provide a lot of value for these types of players. Deep roster, position-specific leagues with position-premium-scoring are where players like Sweat have maximum value. In those types of leagues, Sweat is an interesting option for several reasons. One, as I mentioned above the lack of depth the Titans have means that Sweat should start right away, and as we know volume is key. Two, Tennessee‘s defense will likely be on the field a lot, which again plays to the rep volume that Sweat could potentially see.
Sweat is a what you see is what you get type of player, but “IF” he can keep the PBU totals going in the pros there is some intrigue with him. It’s all about the position premium scoring that your league may have. Sweat isn’t a player that I would draft unless it’s a crazy deep or IDP-only league. I am not opposed to drafting him if you can get him at the right value. In my current IDP-rookie ADP tracker spreadsheet, Sweat is being drafted at an average of pick 60, which is roughly a late 5th or early 6th-round pick. That’s just a little too early for my liking honestly. Be patient and don’t reach, If he goes early, he just goes early! If you’re in the late rounds of your draft and have a need for the position, he’s worth a flyer.
All stats provided by Pro Football Reference
Thanks for reading my article. I am a member of the FSWA (Fantasy Sports Writers of America). Follow me on Twitter at @HollywoodTitan, on Facebook on my IDPNation page, on Reddit in the fantasy football IDP sub — I’m user KingTitan1 — and tune in each week and listen to IDP Nation and Devy IDP Grind, the podcasts that I co-host, on several different platforms. Feel free to email or dm me with any questions, as I’m always glad to help fellow IDPers. #IDPNation #IDP #IDPDevy
