NFL Draft 2019 Rumors: Montez Sweat's Heart Condition May Have Been Misdiagnosed

Mississippi State Bulldogs defensive end Montez Sweat reportedly may have been misdiagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease related to abnormal thickness of the heart wall, ahead of the 2019 NFL draft.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport provided the update Thursday and explained why the situation could be less severe than believed during the NFL Scouting Combine:

Sweat, who started his collegiate career with the Michigan State Spartans before transferring to Mississippi State for his final two years of eligibility after a one-year stop at Copiah-Lincoln Community College, emerged as a top prospect with the Bulldogs.

The 22-year-old edge-rusher tallied 101 total tackles and 22.5 sacks in 26 games across the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Those numbers alone would typically be enough to make Sweat a likely top-10 selection given the importance of players who can get after the quarterback. Defensive ends and outside linebackers are arguably second in importance behind only QBs at the NFL level.

Instead, Sweat's draft stock has been in limbo while teams decided whether he'd still be worth a first-round investment given the medical uncertainty.

Montez Sweat Highlights

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He released a statement to ESPN through agent Brian Overstreet on Saturday saying he decided against traveling to the draft in Nashville, Tennessee. He'd previously told the league he planned to attend the event.

"My devoted grandparents and a host of other family members helped me to get to this point in my life and I wanted to celebrate this special day with my family, so we all chose to do so where it all started for me, Stone Mountain, Georgia," he said.

It's unclear whether NFL teams were made aware of the information provided to Rapoport, and that could play a key role in determining whether Sweat goes in the first round on Thursday night.

If healthy, he could emerge as a strong Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate in 2019.