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Montez Sweat a breakout player in 2022?

Montez Sweat a breakout player in 2022?

Washington defensive end Montez Sweat appeared to be heading for a breakout season in 2021. Entering his third NFL season, Sweat had started every game for Washington in his first two seasons, recording 95 tackles, 16 sacks, four forced fumbles and one touchdown.

Sadly for Sweat, the 2021 season would become one to forget. Sweat lost his mother and older brother last year and suffered a broken jaw in a Week 8 loss at Denver. Sweat would miss six weeks before returning in Week 14.

Unfortunately, Sweat’s brother was tragically killed in December, and he missed Washington’s final two games.

Sweat was present during Washington’s offseason program, and after the first week of training camp, he looks like the player many believed was on the verge of stardom entering last season.

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com recently predicted one breakout player for every NFL team in 2022. Sweat was his choice for the Commanders.

This is cheating, because Sweat has already produced at a high level the last two seasons. But this is a veteran Commanders roster without a lot of promising young talent, and Sweat has another level to reach. The combination of his first-step speed and ability to stuff the run is elite. Pigeonholed as the No. 2 edge rusher behind Chase Young, Sweat has the explosive ability to be a Pro Bowl-caliber player in his own right.

Rosenthal is partially correct. It is cheating because Sweat is already a tremendous player. However, few defenders possess the extreme upside of both he and Chase Young.

Last summer, Sweat predicted he and Young would break the record for most sacks by teammates. It didn’t happen last season, and some ridiculed Sweat for the comments. They shouldn’t. Why shouldn’t Sweat believe he and Young could break records?

Don’t count on Sweat promising anything similar this summer. But don’t be surprised if he’s one of the NFL’s sack leaders in 2022.

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Commanders Wire…