Titans rookie T’Vondre Sweat has a lot on him – but if enough comes off, watch out (2024)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two years ago when Treylon Burks couldn’t finish drills at Tennessee Titans rookie minicamp and had to come off the field and hit an inhaler, his lack of conditioning and previously unreported asthma became a story.

Everyone was looking for the story Friday at St. Thomas Sports Park. It’s the story of this rookie class and it’s a big one. Second-round pick T’Vondre Sweat, taken No. 38 out of Texas, is bigger than that, really. Few variables on this roster in 2024 can swing things as significantly as he can, because the range of possibilities is so … well … large.

Sweat could join forces with Jeffery Simmons at such a high rate of disruption and destruction, the Titans could create the most miserable Sundays on the schedule for a lot of interior offensive linemen around this league. Which would take pressure off a depth-challenged edge group, help a new linebacking corps settle in and serve red meat up to what is arguably the most talented and aggressive cornerback group this franchise has fielded in Nashville.

Sweat on his ideal weight. pic.twitter.com/i31rAKVVBD

— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) May 10, 2024

Sweat is that good. If he’s not too big. I’m not sure he’s “most likely a Hall of Famer” if he can get down to around 350 pounds on that 6-foot-4 frame, as he claimed shortly after the Titans drafted him. But the Outland Trophy winner’s fifth college season, featuring 31 quarterback pressures and nimble feet that wouldn’t normally be connected to such a frame, should erase any doubt that he can be an impactful NFL player and that he’s more than just an early-down plugger.

“I have no doubt he’s a three-down player,” Titans defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said this week, echoing head coach Brian Callahan and GM Ran Carthon from the draft, and providing an accurate voice-over to Friday’s action on the practice field.

This was the first media view of Callahan as a head coach, coaching players. It was a first view of several other key rookies, including first-round pick JC Latham, who is obviously a crucial part of the story in 2024 and beyond. But there’s also a higher level of certainty with Latham, a much smaller range of outcomes. The main attraction was Sweat, and the spectacle was a contrast to Burks’ first day as a rookie — right down to cool, cloudy conditions compared with the blazing sun of two years ago.

Sweat looked huge out there in the white No. 93 jersey, the biggest dude on the field. He did not look sloppy. He did not struggle to move, not at all. Nor did he struggle to pop up from the ground and punish a blocking sled, as he did in one drill. It was no big surprise that when players broke into individual position groups Carthon and defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson were standing together watching the defensive tackles.

It was not up for interpretation that, when Sweat went through a lateral drill, turning one way and then the other while stepping sideways to avoid bags on the ground, Rocker slapped his hands together and bellowed: “Ohhhh man!” Another coach watching chimed in: “That’s it, big fella!”

Some T’Vondre Sweat on a Friday. pic.twitter.com/lJjSbRMyMo

— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) May 10, 2024

“He looked good today,” Callahan said after the practice — a pretty low-event hour of work — of Sweat, who also got plenty of instruction and correction from Rocker in various exercises.

But what Callahan said is what everyone who was out there saw: a mammoth defensive lineman who moved well and appeared to have done as the Titans hoped from the time they drafted him until he showed up in town.

T’Vondre Sweat, Part II. pic.twitter.com/SEdCRO1f5j

— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) May 10, 2024

Sweat stood out almost comically on a field of rookies, most of them undrafted free agents who are starting quests to stick in the NFL. But he will stand out when the whole team is on the field, too. He’s different. That was easy to see.

We guessed, too. Is that a 366-pound man, as he’s officially listed? Is he in the 380s, as some scouts told The Athletic’sDane Brugler he played at last season? If he was that productive at Texas in the 380s, what would he be in the 350s? How many pounds from here does he need to lose before the season, if any? Could we get jobs at a carnival?

Quick, name the last Tennessee Titan whose weight-loss efforts were central to his standing with the team. You’re going back a few years. Yes, Burks was out of shape showing up as a rookie. But that was a few pounds and some conditioning.

This is a gigantic human who has acknowledged struggles in that area, which is why Callahan pointed out shortly after drafting him that it will be “very expensive” if Sweat isn’t where the Titans want him to be.

“He’s well aware of what that cost can be, and it’s significant if you’re significantly overweight,” Callahan said. “But I trust that he’s going to do what’s been asked of him and hit the weight number that he needs to be at.”

Callahan made clear Friday that such discussions won’t be public. Nor will any specific talk of Sweat’s weight. Sweat didn’t want to talk numbers either, saying only that he and the Titans are figuring out what the number should be — with sports performance director Zac Woodfin and nutrition coordinator Lauren Silvio key in the discussion.

“I have a lot to work on,” Sweat said. “I’m not a perfect person. No one here is perfect.”

That’s true, as is this from Rocker: “We’ve all been 22, 23, and we all know what we did.”

All of it without the scrutiny Sweat is just starting to endure, though most would sign up for the same microscope/reward situation. The Titans have gone big on risk/reward here, given Sweat’s DWI arrest last month during the pre-draft process, which gave oomph to talk of maturity concerns and dropped him on some draft boards. As one NFL executive told The Athletic’s Mike Sando shortly after the draft of Sweat: “The guy is going to break your heart.”

That’s the low end of the enormous range of possibilities here. The Titans are built right now to need Sweat immediately as a key performer. He’s good enough to be that and supercharge their defense. If things go the wrong way, this would be a big enough mistake to adversely affect more than this season. But as another exec told Sando: “Oh God, if they get him going, it’s gonna be a helluva combo (with Simmons).”

The stakes and support system are in place. The first glance was promising. But this story will be written largely when Sweat is alone and no one is watching him, writes the guy whose first stop after practice was a nearby drive-thru.

(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)

Joe Rexrode is a senior staff writer for The Athletic covering all things Nashville and some things outside Nashville. He previously worked at The Tennessean, the Detroit Free Press and the Lansing State Journal, spending the past three years as sports columnist at The Tennessean. Follow Joe on Twitter @joerexrode