Draft stock rising? NFL insider claims Montez Sweat’s medical issue less of a concern following specialist’s evaluation
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Heading into the week, Montez Sweat’s stock likely was all over the board for NFL teams leading up to the draft. That reality had nothing to do with his outstanding performance on the field for Mississippi State and had everything to do with a medical red flag that caused some teams to drop the Hail State defender off their board entirely.
That apparent issue had to do with Sweat’s heart and while it was never an issue previously, the medical red flag was discovered during the pre-draft process. Turns out, any team that may have dropped Sweat from their board may have done so prematurely, reports NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
“Sweat saw an expert and the belief right now, according to this expert, Dr. James Muntz in Houston, Sweat was actually misdiagnosed,” Rapoport says in the clip below.
If not for the medical “issue” Sweat was viewed by many as a top 10 pick after racking up 23.5 sacks and 105 tackles for Mississippi State in the previous two seasons. Provided that Dr. Muntz’s evaluation is accurate, there’s a good chance Sweat jumps back up the board and is one of the first players to hear his name called when the 2019 NFL Draft begins at 8 p.m. ET from Nashville.
Here is the full report on the situation from Rapoport:
From our NFL pre-draft coverage: #MSU pass-rusher Montez Sweat may have been misdiagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Two sources say the thickness of Sweat's heart wall is actually 1.5 cms, not nearly 2.0. I explain below why the risk could be much lower. pic.twitter.com/PUVsbO2tDw
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 25, 2019
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
