Every solid NFL defense has a few “unsung heroes”—guys who just steadily do their job and don’t get all the hype or recognition that a stud cornerback or sack artist off the edge does.
For the New York Jets, defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat has started to emerge as one of those guys. When Gang Green acquired him straight up in exchange for Jermaine Johnson this offseason, it was widely viewed as a steal.
He has fulfilled every bit of that billing so far.
Inside Sweat’s strong start to the year
Through four games this season, Sweat has been one of the league’s most effective defensive tackles. He ranks 10th among defensive tackles in Pro Football Focus‘ grading system (78.9).
Sweat’s efficiency has been even better when facing double teams this year. As NFL analyst Judah Fortgang pointed out on X, Sweat sits around the 59th percentile in double-team rate this year, meaning he has faced more double teams than most DTs. At 6-foot-4 and 366 pounds, that’s expected.
However, what stands out is how he has handled it. Despite consistent double teams, he has been the league’s most effective defensive tackle against those looks, based on PFF’s grading.
PFF grades are a strong measuring stick for assessing a player like Sweat for several reasons. First, space eaters like him don’t always light up the stat sheet with sacks, pressures, or even run stops. PFF grades measure his impact snap to snap.
Sweat’s job is to open up opportunities for the guys around him. A player like that is even more valuable when a defense struggles to generate consistent pressure, which the Jets have done the past few weeks. Against the Chicago Bears last week, the Jets’ edge rushers combined for four total pressures. That’s simply not good enough to win games.
Fortgang also highlighted in another graph that Sweat’s impact goes beyond simply occupying space. The former Tennessee Titan ranks around the 74th percentile among defensive tackles in disruption pressure, while sitting in the 89th percentile for PFF’s overall grade.
Essentially, disruption pressure highlights a defender’s ability to disrupt the opposing offense beyond just recording sacks. In other words, it separates a legitimate disruptive play that may not have ended in a sack from simply getting in the backfield.
Little tidbits like that matter when evaluating a player like Sweat, a space eater whose value isn’t always shown in the traditional box score or highlights at the end of each game.
The Jets are getting exactly what they should be looking for from Sweat. He is not only occupying blockers and demanding attention at the NFL level, but he is also legitimately impacting the game. Sweat is also going beyond being an above-average run defender at his size; we’re starting to see his pass-rushing tools.
Overall, he’s emerged as one of the Jets’ strongest chips in an area where he wasn’t even expected to make a big impact: pass rushing. He’s been exactly the kind of unsung hero the Jets need on defense.
However, that doesn’t mean that the 366-pounder can do everything on his own. The Jets’ edge rushers really need to pick it up and generate more consistent pressure off the outside.
Altogether, though, four games into his career in the green and white, the first-year Jet has been everything anyone could ask for, and then some.
