Baltimore Ravens Draft Target T'Vondre Sweat a 'Party Animal?'

The Baltimore Ravens aren't desperate for new talent, but could they still reach on their first-round pick?

Texas defensive lineman T'Vondre Sweat (93) attends practice in Caesars Superdome ahead of the Sugar / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA

The Baltimore Ravens lost some significant pieces on defense this offseason.

Linebackers Jadeveon Clowney, Del'Shawn Phillips and Patrick Queen won't be easy to replace, but general manager Eric DeCosta hopes to use the upcoming NFL Draft to add some depth all along the defensive side of the ball.

A potential draft target on the defensive line is University of Texas defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat.

But are we finding out now that Sweat might have some character issues? Is a "party animal" and "class clown" a guy that should fall in the draft? Probably not. Yet, that's the way draft analyst Dane Brugler described Sweat.

Sweat has drawn interest from the Ravens along with several other teams and was projected by Brugler to be a fourth-round pick, while others have him graded as the No. 1 1-technique defensive tackle in the draft this season.

While there are usually a handful of draftees that fall in the draft due to sketchy or questionable backgrounds, or sometimes bad interviews with teams, it's not always an indication of how they'll turn out in the pros.

Two examples come to mind, Warren Sapp and Randy Moss.

Warren Sapp was shunned in the draft by some teams because of a history of marijuana use in college. He slipped to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1995 to No. 12, where he was taken and spent nine Hall of Fame seasons before moving to the Raiders in 2004 where he put in another clean four seasons.

Moss slipped all the way to No. 21 in 1998 where the Minnesota Vikings picked him. The former Marshall product had behavioral issues in high school and was denied enrollment by Notre Dame, kicked off the team at Florida State before enrolling at Marshall, where he had a stellar college career.

Still, NFL teams were leary to draft someone with his background so high. And as a pro, he took it upon himself to make every team that passed on him regret it - with great success.

Is a "party animal" and "class clown" a bad guy? Not necessarily, and sometimes those labels are overblown.

But the Ravens need a good draft in 2024 and players to contribute immediately at some positions. Defensive tackle is one of them. So clearly, the best players available when Buffalo drafts this month should get the most attention from the team - regardless of silly labels.