Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that Mississippi State DE/OLB Montez Sweat‘s heart condition has been discussed extensively by NFL teams and their medical staffs in recent weeks.
According to Pelissero, Sweat has been removed from some draft boards while other teams plan to take precaution in terms of selecting Sweat.
Sweat has an enlarged heart that has created some concern from NFL teams. Pelissero says that doctors have told scouts that there isn’t an example of a player in the NFL playing with this type of condition.
However, there are European soccer players who have. Pelissero mentions that teams would need to take extra precautions with Sweat such as having a defibrillator on hand for all games and practices.
The good news is that there are progressive teams and doctors have spoken with cardiologists and have gotten comfortable with him playing with the heart condition while others have removed him from their draft board.
It’s possible this ends up impacting Sweat’s draft stock to some degree.
Sweat has visited with a number of teams including the Raiders, Texans, Bengals, Packers, Jaguars, 49ers, Eagles and Falcons.
Sweat, 22, played two seasons at Mississippi State after transferring from Michigan State. Many draft analysts consider him to be a top-10 prospect in this year’s class.
Sweat wound up setting a Combine-record for defensive linemen, running the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds despite coming in at 6-foot-6, 260 pounds.
It was discovered at the Combine that Sweat has a pre-existing heart condition.
During his college career, Sweat appeared in 27 games and recorded 105 tackles, 23.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery.
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