Rams respond to Stefon Diggs trade in latest 4-round 2024 NFL mock draft

With the 52nd pick

of the 2024 NFL Draft, the LA Rams select T'Vondre Sweat, defensive tackle, out of Texas. I am probably breaking some unspoken rule by selecting Sweat in a second mock draft, but he is on the board at 52 and the team needs a strong presence on the defensive line. T'Vondre Sweat is that guy.

The quality about Sweat that powers so much optimism and positive speculation is that he is such a big-bodied defensive tackle, standing 6-foot-4.5 and 366 pounds who can push a 5.27-second 40-yard dash. He had tremendous growth throughout his five collegiate seasons, ending with the Texas Longhorns by putting up 45 tackles and 8.0 quarterback sacks in 2023.

Sweat is exciting for this defense on multiple fronts. For openers, arriving in 2024 allows him to become the understudy of NT Bobby Brown III for a season, which gives him an opportunity to ease into the role and increase his playing time as he earns the larger role. Much like 2023 rookie NT Kobie Turner, Sweat has uncanny agility and power, and showcased a burst that allows him to get to the quarterback quickly from the middle of the defense.

Perhaps more importantly, sliding Sweat into the rotation at nose tackles frees up Kobie Turner to slide into the defensive tackle role held by now-retired Aaron Donald.

One important rule of any mock draft is to target the position, and not become overly fixated on an individual prospect at that position. But Sweat screams production in this defense, and could quickly become one more horseman to join Kobie Turner and Byron Young (and perhaps Chop Robinson) in the posse to chase down those varmint quarterbacks on the opposing team.