Rod Sweeting: 5 Things You Need to Know About the Georgia Tech Cornerback

Rod Sweeting is one of the few prospects in this draft who possesses the rare combination of height, instincts and intelligence to match up with the bigger playmaking receivers in the NFL.

Tall cornerbacks with a high football IQ who can play outside are hard to come by and this former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket will be in demand because of those qualities.

With plenty of snaps under his belt, including years of starting experience, Sweeting appears poised to translate his game to the NFL.

His name might not be floated around with the top corners in this draft, but he still possesses a skill set that the NFL will covet on draft weekend.

Here are five things you need to know about Rod Sweeting.

Background

Full Name: Roderick Hilary Sweeting

Birthday: 09/28/1990

Hometown: Locust Grove, Georgia

High School: Luella

Major: Business Management

Year: Senior

Rod Sweeting moved just down the road from Locust Grove to attend Georgia Tech.

Sweeting was a sub-package contributor in his first two years on the Georgia Tech football team and started as a junior and senior.

Statistics

You're not going to see eye-popping interception production from Rod Sweeting, but that's not a true gauge of his coverage abilities.

Despite the low interception total, he still managed to turn in 28 career pass deflections.

He certainly could've caught more of those balls, but as Georgia Tech's No. 1 cornerback, he still held his own on the edge facing elite receivers.

G	TKL	INT	PD	FF
2009	8	0	0	0
2010	38	2	8	0
2011	56	2	12	2
2012	58	1	8	0
Total	160	4	28	2

Statistics via Sports-reference.com.

Draft Process

Measurables

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 189

Arm Length: 31 1/4"

Hand Size: 9"

Combine Results

40-yard dash: 4.42

Broad jump: 124"

Vertical jump: 37"

Bench press: 11

Pro Day Results

3-cone drill: 7.11 (did not perform drill at combine)

Rod Sweeting did himself a huge favor with his 4.42 40 time. He probably surprised himself with that time, as he plays more to the 4.5 range.

There are teams who won't draft corners with arms under 32" and Sweeting's came in just under that (31 1/4").

At 5'11" and nearly 190 pounds, however, he still has good size for the position.

Sweeting did a good job of participating in the drills that would accentuate his skills and enhance his stock.

Combine results via NFL.com.

Pro Day results via NFLdraftscout.com.

Interesting Facts

Rod Sweeting began playing football at the young age of eight.

As a Scout.com 4-star recruit out of high school, he graduated earning First Team All-State honors for 5A high schools in the state of Georgia.

Sweeting reeled in a number of honors in his time at Georgia Tech, including:

2012 Hyundai Sun Bowl Most Valuable Player 
2012 Preseason Second Team All-ACC (Lindy's) 
2012 Preseason Fourth Team All-ACC (Phil Steele) 
2011 Honorable Mention All-ACC
2011 Third Team All-ACC (Phil Steele)
2011 ACC Defensive Back of the Week (10/17)

He tied teammate T.J. Barnes for the most career games played in Georgia Tech history (54).

Sweeting's uncle, John Henry, played basketball at Oral Roberts.

Information gathered via RamblinWreck.com

Observations

Rod Sweeting has experience playing off and press man coverage.

He was asked to play off far more often. However, he has shown the ability to be physical in press coverage.

One of the bigger concerns with Sweeting will be his deep speed. Too many plays over his head might keep him from becoming a consistent NFL starter. 

You can see the high football IQ he possesses by how instinctual he is when he can see the play in front of him.

Sweeting's tackling is solid, but he gave up too many yards after the catch due inconsistent effort. He seemed to wear down late in games too often.

The former Yellow Jacket has gotten his hands on his fair share of footballs (28 career pass deflections), but finished his collegiate career with a somewhat surprisingly low interception total (4).

At 5'11", his height will serve him well on balls in traffic. There have been issues raised over his ability to add to his frame.

Sweeting's ceiling as an NFL starter and somewhat high floor should make him one of the better value picks of this year's draft.