Montez Sweat’s on-field tape at Mississippi State and his workouts during the pre-draft process made him look like a strong candidate to come off the board early in the first round, but a diagnosis of a heart condition during the pre-draft process reportedly led some teams to take him off their boards.
The heart condition came back into the spotlight in the hours leading into the draft on Thursday. A report indicated that another doctor found that Sweat may have been misdiagnosed with an enlarged heart and Washington wound up moving back into the first round to take him with the 26th overall pick.
Sweat said he met with the doctor for the Texans and that he was told he has a “normal heart” and head coach Jay Gruden said the team was confident that he’s a “healthy young man.”
“I’m just getting ready to play football,” Sweat said, via ESPN.com. “There will probably be the biggest chip on my shoulder there’s ever been.”
Sweat wasn’t the only Washington first-rounder talking about a chip on his shoulder after being picked lower than they would have liked on Thursday night. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins expressed the same sentiment and if that turns into productivity on the field, Washington’s moves to open the draft should help the team for several years.