When the New York Jets traded Jermaine Johnson for T’Vondre Sweat, most Jets fans considered it a steal.
Johnson was coming off a disappointing fourth season, during which he did not look like the same player after returning from an Achilles tear. Sweat, meanwhile, had two fewer seasons of experience than Johnson, and had established himself as a premier run-stopper on the interior.
Three games into 2026, though, the Jets are looking for a little more out of the 366-pounder.
Sweat looking to find his footing in New York
The Jets brought in Sweat to lead a transformation of their run defense. So far, that has not come to fruition. New York’s run defense ranks 25th in the NFL, according to the DVOA metric, and Sweat’s underperformance is a part of that disappointing output.
Through three games, Sweat has recorded just two run stops. His 5.6% run-stop rate (percentage of run-game snaps in which he recorded a run stop) ranks 57th out of 106 qualified defensive tackles.
Sweat was never known for making a high rate of stops, though. Even last year, his run-stop rate was 6.3%, ranking 64th out of 111 qualifiers.
At his best, what Sweat brings to the table is a significant off-the-stat-sheet impact. His ability to gobble up double teams made the Titans’ run defense better as a whole, even if Sweat wasn’t making many stops himself. He served as a blocker of sorts for his teammates, creating lanes for them to freely pursue ball carriers.
So far in 2026, Sweat hasn’t performed to the level he is capable of in this area.
The film has shown a few too many instances in which Sweat was plowed off the line of scrimmage by a double-team. That shows up in his Pro Football Focus run defense grade, which evaluates not just a defender’s ability to make plays on the ball, but his ability to take on blockers and fulfill his gap assignments.
Sweat has a PFF run defense grade of 50.3, placing 68th out of 106 qualified defensive tackles. Last season, his 79.2 grade ranked fourth.
This has translated to the Jets’ defensive success against the run with Sweat on the field. His presence has actually hurt the Jets’ run defense so far.
With Sweat on the field, the Jets have allowed a rushing success rate of 65.0% on non-quarterback attempts, with 13 of 20 opponent rushes being successful*. With Sweat off the field, they have allowed 18 of 34 opponent rushes to succeed, a much more respectable 52.9% rate. The league average is about 50%.
*-A “successful” rush, by this measure, is defined as enough yardage to gain at least 40% of the yards to go on 1st down, 60% on second down, and 100% on third/fourth down.
It’s a small sample, but the team-wide run-stopping performance with Sweat on the field correlates with his individual decline in run-stopping metrics. It all lines up with the film, which has shown Sweat being moved off the line of scrimmage more easily than he was in Tennessee.
Sweat has also not been as impactful as a pass rusher, which is an underrated strength in his game. For a 366-pound nose tackle who is mainly on the field to anchor down against double-teams in the run game, he was a surprisingly effective pass rusher in 2025, but his numbers have dipped in that facet.
Last year, Sweat finished the season with a 9.0% pressure rate and a 9.4% pass-rush win rate. Through Week 3 of 2026, he has a 6.5% pressure rate and a 7.0% pass-rush win rate. A couple of percentage points might seem negligible, but to exemplify the difference, Sweat has dropped to 70th out of 121 qualified DTs in pass-rush win rate after placing 44th of 122 last year.
As the Jets’ defense looks to prove that it can hold up against formidable opponents, Sweat is among the players with the most pressure on their shoulders to step up.
