I won’t sit here and say he WONT be the pick, but he shouldn’t be. Sweat has all of the athleticism you look for, and is actually very stout against the run and sets the edge very well. However, he just does not do it as a rusher. His get off is average at best, which it shouldn’t be due to his athleticism. He has ok bend. But he just is not the player you would think he is with his athletic profile. Could he have a ton of untapped potential as a rusher, of course. Not too different from Frank Clark in college really. But I don’t know if that’s the bet I want to take in round 1 this year.
DE is a definite need, and if the right guy was there at 18 or after a trade down I’d be all over it. But this is a weak edge class all around. Short of Chubb (top 5 Lock) and Davenport (highly unlikely he escapes top 10 IMO when all is said and done) this class really lacks edge players. Harold Landry is a guy they will probably like too. But he is a complete liability against the run right now and had a pretty bad 2017 year as a rusher. But he was so dominant in 2015 an 2016 I could see them being really high on him. But again, no way I’m staying at 18 and taking him there.
A guy I love is Duke Ejiofor. I think he flashes more as a rusher than either of those 2, and is far better against the run than Landry. And you could probably get him somewhere in round 2 if you can find a way to get a pick there.