More than any other position, standard production can become an afterthought when evaluating defensive linemen who project as high-profile pass rushers in the NFL. Sack totals don’t necessarily tell the whole story and elite athleticism is always coveted as a trait for pass rushers.
Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart, a projected first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, fits cleanly into this bucket of players that might not have the cleanest projections. Stewart’s otherworldly athleticism was defined at the NFL combine, running a 4.59 40-yard dash (with a blistering 1.58 10-yard split!) at 267 pounds — and paired it with a 40-inch vertical jump and nearly 11 feet in the broad jump.
While he has the athletic measurements of a number one overall pick, his production left a whole lot to be desired. Despite playing in 12 games, Stewart only had 1.5 sacks and six tackles for loss on the season. Those are terribly low marks for what may be a top 10 edge rusher — for reference, Los Angeles Rams rookie edge rusher Jared Verse had nine sacks and 13 tackles for loss in his final year at Florida State. While the basic production is low, Stewart is a more disruptive player than those numbers suggest. The tape shows a player that can be a headache for opposing offensive lines at times, even though he isn’t great at finishing plays just yet.
Why some NFL scouts are sold on Shemar Stewart
Stewart’s performance against South Carolina is a great game to get a grasp of who he is as a player. Like most of his games, the stat sheet appears to be unimpressive. 3 solo tackles, one tackle for loss, but the film shows that he put together a bit of a bigger impact than that — and that he still has a ways to go in terms of improving his technique.
The biggest selling point with Stewart’s game right now is that he’s already physically built for life in the NFL, which mostly shows up in his run defense. At his best, Stewart can be a load to move off of the end of the line of scrimmage, and he did a great job here (No. 4) holding his ground against South Carolina’s right tackle and compressing room on the edge.
Stewart’s ability to disengage against the run (and pass) is something he’ll need to improve on in the NFL to make the level of impact that aligns with his draft status, but when he plays with good leverage, technique and finds the ball, he can really be a hammer against the run as a defensive end.
When Texas A&M put him on the move with slants, he was also a problem for the Gamecocks’ offensive line. That’s where the explosion he showed at the combine with his 10-yard split and jumps shine through on the field.
Again, when Stewart can play with clean technique and good leverage, he really can be an overwhelming presence in a short area. His ability to be disruptive on the slant creates space for the linebacker to come down and make the tackle.
Even when his technique is all out of whack and he’s just bowling forward and playing without leverage or his hands, Stewart’s physical talent can be enough to allow him to disrupt a play.
Here, his teammate causes the initial pressure, but he's still able to get free after converting a rip into a handless bull rush. He misses the tackle at the end of the play, but this is just sheer power that certainly shows he is physically ready for NFL football — even though the blockers will be better than this.
That’s the good of Stewart’s game. It shows there’s plenty to work with and there is proof of concept of him being able to play with good technique and maximize his physical abilities.
Where Shemar Stewart needs to improve
Then again, if he consistently played like that, there wouldn’t be any concern about his production. The reason he didn’t produce consistently is because he doesn’t play with consistent fundamentals, which is more prevalent on his tape than the plays where everything goes right.
Stewart struggles to play with good pad level, which can end up making him a non-factor on plays where he has the physical ability to be dominant. Here, he stands up too high out of his stance and ends up getting driven down the field against a double team.
For someone who played in 37 games at Texas A&M and started a handful of games prior to starting all 12 as a junior, Stewart doesn’t have the greatest feel for the game and is often a tick late reacting to what’s in front of him or making plays that suggest far less playing experience than he has. Stewart is a player that will give quarterbacks chances to get out the pocket with his desire to work moves to the inside, which immediately puts a lot of strain on the defense.
Stewart exists on a plane where he’s athletic enough to recover back to the edge after giving a quarterback space to run, but is still putting his defense in a disadvantageous position when he plays without regard for the structure of the defense.
Even when he is rushing the passer in the lane he’s supposed to be in, he just really doesn’t even attempt many moves or try different tricks to get around offensive tackles. Pair that with a penchant for chasing things he shouldn’t be and he can take himself out of plays even though he is the most physically dominant player on the field.
It’s easy to see why Stewart’s counting stats were so low when the film gets turned on — this is a player that’s a novice when it comes to having a plan for bringing down the opposing quarterback. A lot of time he’s just running forward and seeing what happens.
This shows up on read and option plays where a little more patience reading a play out can be the difference between winning and losing it on defense. Stewart, who again has played 37 games in the current college football climate, still struggles with his aggression on these plays and leaves the defense in a spot where they’re exposed because he’s playing into what the offense wants him to do. Sure, blowing up the quarterback on a speed option play is fun, but not when it leaves the running back free with no one to make a play on him until he gets into the secondary.
The explosion to hit the quarterback that hard is notable in the sense that it’s just another glimpse at Stewart’s physique and athleticism, but it didn’t actually help the play.
Betting on pass-rush traits over production actually has a good recent track record
The risk with Stewart is obvious: He’s just going to need a lot of coaching to get to where he needs to be as an NFL defensive lineman.
It is interesting that Stewart was listed at 290 pounds at Texas A&M (and played inside a fair amount), but showed up to the combine at 267 pounds. College football teams are notoriously inaccurate when it comes to posting their players’ measurables, but it might suggest that Stewart is going to be playing at a lighter weight in the NFL.
Either way, he’s going to need to get in the lab and hone his craft right away because he is going to be a highly drafted player. It’s a bit alarming that Stewart has played in so many games and still is behind where he needs to be in terms of overall feel and instincts for the game, but traits, traits, traits.
A handful of defensive coaches are going to be looking at Stewart and saying, “I can fix him.” That’s because there just aren’t many 270-pound guys that can run in the 4.5s.
According to scouting sources who spoke with Yahoo Sports about Stewart, the evaluation of him seems pretty clear — flawed with big-time athleticism that’s worth investing in.
How high? It’ll be hard to see him dropping out of the top 15 or 20 picks in the draft, especially considering there aren’t many top 1-percentile athletes at defensive end in this class. However, expectations just need to be tempered with him because he needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and that will take time for him and his new team.
Players like Odafe Oweh (Ravens), Chop Robinson (Dolphins), Nolan Smith (Eagles) and Kwity Paye (Colts) are recent examples of edge rushers who didn’t have a ton of production in college, but still went in the first round of the draft. Oweh, Robinson and Smith look like productive adds for their NFL teams while Paye has struggled. Just goes to show that teams will overlook counting stats in favor of athleticism on the defensive line, which isn’t necessarily a bad bet given what the position entails.
Shemar Stewart is up next and his career will be fascinating to track from the jump.
