Where does Tommy Sweeney fit on the Buffalo Bills in 2020?

Assessing Sweeney’s game

With underwhelming athletic traits, Sweeney has to rely on being a traditional “inline” tight end, where he will be required to block most often. He will never be asked to split out wide, like tight ends with great athleticism are asked to, but he will regularly be featured in heavy personnel.

He has really good hands and was regarded out of college as having some of the best hands in the draft class at the position. Joe Marino of The Draft Network mentions Sweeney’s hands in his draft profile

"Showcases soft, natural and reliable hands. Greets the football with proper technique and hauls it in cleanly. Capable of extending in any direction and plucking it. Does well to hang on through traffic. Catching the football looks easy for him."

This is a full 180 of what fellow tight end Dawson Knox looked like during his rookie season as he could have used Sweeney’s sure handedness in his first season.

Marino while citing Sweeney’s hands as his strength, has his athleticism as his weakness which is evident when you watch the tight end. He will always struggle to beat man coverage and will rarely create athletic mismatches versus linebackers:

"Doesn’t have the juice be truly be a vertical threat or regularly separate from man coverage. Cushion disappears slowly in his release. Modest athletic ability tempers his upside to be a dynamic receiving option."

A very technical blocker, Sweeney is strong but rarely will win on blocks just due to his strength, he uses good hand placement and moves well laterally to make life hard on incoming rushers.

During week 1 versus the Jets, Sweeney made a great block to seal a nice lane for Singletary, with the Bills running 21 personnel on the play, this could be an example of where Sweeney could make money.

The tight end did an exceptional job at using his hands on the defensive lineman to take him out of the play and spring Singletary.

Marino praised Sweeney for his inline blocking, and the technique he used in the play above is exactly why he is referred to as a technician at the tight end position.

"Has the frame and strength needed to exchange power in the trenches but is still more of a technician than a guy with overwhelming strength. Committed to working his hips around and positioning his frame to seal lanes. Would create more movement if he played with more consistently leveraged hips and developed more strength in his lower half that would allow him to accelerate his feet and move bodies. Does well to fit his hands."

Despite athletic limitations, if Sweeney is going to be used as a third string “blocking” tight end his speed will be obsolete and won’t affect how well he plays as a blocker.