Wait, you’ve heard this one before?
In the latest of what’s been more than five dozen such moves thus far, Josh Sweat is the latest to leave school early, announcing through Florida State that he’s declaring for the April draft. As is the case with most of these moves, the defensive end’s departure has been expected.
Below is Sweat’s complete statement regarding his declaration:After carefully considering my options with my family, I have decided that it would be in my best interest to enter the 2018 NFL Draft. This was a very tough decision for me, and one that I didn’t take lightly. It has truly been an honor and a pleasure to wear the Garnet and Gold for three seasons.
I would like to thank my teammates for making my years here at FSU awesome. I would like to thank Coach Fisher, Coach Lawing and Coach Kelly for the ways you developed me as the player I am today. A special thank you to (defensive assistant) Bert Biffani. Jake, Dr. Jerry, Julie, and the rest of the training staff - thank you so much for everything. You guys are amazing and were so patient with me and I’m truly grateful for you all.
I also want to thank the football support staff, academic staff, and of course my big brother D. Coles for all the hard work you put in to make me ready for the real world. To Nole Nation, it has been an awesome ride. From my official visit to now, I can’t thank you enough for the support throughout my three-year tenure here at FSU. I am now and forever NoleBlooded!!!
The past two seasons, Sweat combined for 34 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks. He led the Seminoles this past season with 5.5 sacks and was second in tackles for loss with 12.5.
During his time in Tallahassee, Sweat started a total of 31 games, including all 12 during the regular season in 2017. He would’ve added one more start to that total but opted to skip out on the Independence Bowl in order to begin prepping for the draft.
Sweat’s official decision comes one day after teammate and tight end Ryan Izzo declared for the draft as well. Star safety Derwin James announced in early December that he was making himself available for the draft and would be skipping FSU’s bowl game as well.