2025 NFL Draft Notebook: The enigmatic Shemar Stewart, Iowa State pass catchers, and more scouting notes
With the college football season winding down, and the NFL playoffs beginning, we will soon be able to turn our attention fully to the offseason. That means the conversations around the 2025 NFL Draft are about to pick up in a big way. The all-star circuit, 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, and pro days are all […]
With the college football season winding down, and the NFL playoffs beginning, we will soon be able to turn our attention fully to the offseason. That means the conversations around the 2025 NFL Draft are about to pick up in a big way. The all-star circuit, 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, and pro days are all on the horizon.
In order to continue giving more and more insight into the 2025 class, I will be sharing my scouting notes each and every week. In this week’s edition, we take a look at an SEC defender, and an underrated school for draft talent.
The enigmatic Shemar Stewart
The buzz around Texas A&M defensive lineman Shemar Stewart is very real, and it’s very understandable in a vacuum. At 6 '4 ¾” and 279 pounds, Stewart is body-beautiful with nearly 35 inch arms. He is how NFL evaluators draw up EDGE defenders on paper. Stewart is also very twitchy, and insanely powerful. When you look at him, you always wouldn’t expect for Stewart to have tremendous closing speed. That might be the rarest part of his athletic profile.
There is, however, a lot of boom or bust implications surrounding Stewart as a prospect. It is typically wise to bet on traits, so valuing Stewart is very understandable and philosophically a solid decision. The thing that worries you most about Stewart is the hip tightness. He is able to win the corner initially with his first step, but the lack of bend in his lower half could prevent him from finishing plays and cause him to get run around the track.
Would Stewart be better off bulking up and playing more in three down looks? That’s the honest question. It doesn’t necessarily make Stewart less valuable, but a touch more scheme specific. There are some questions about his continued impact on obvious passing situations, at least from wider alignments. Lack of production (just 6 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks in 2024) won’t help to comfort evaluators.
The Iowa State pass catchers
Iowa State has quietly done a pretty nice job of developing NFL talent over the years, including names like Breece Hall, Brock Purdy, and Allen Lazard. Don’t look now, but the Cyclones are putting out several talented prospects in the 2025 class. That includes a couple notable pass catchers.
My personal favorite is slot dynamo Jaylin Noel. Despite boasting a smaller frame (5096v, 196v), Noel is one of the more dependable pass catchers in the class. He excels working from the slot, where his route running nuance and tempo create a lot of big plays. Noel also makes a ton of plays after the catch.
While his frame will limit Noel a bit from an alignment perspective, he is a really easy projection from his slot position. Noel will also never be great at the catch point, but he does show competitiveness. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Noel come off the board in the top 100 picks come April.
There are some NFL scouts who like fellow wide receiver Jayden Higgins even more. He is a much larger player at nearly 6-4 and 212 pounds. Higgins does his best work outside of the numbers, utilizing his big frame and working the back shoulder game. His combination of size, length, and hand strength make him almost unrecoverable in those types of situations.
Despite being a bigger body, Higgins also does have great understanding as a route runner. He clearly understands how to attack blind spots, doesn’t have a ton of tells as a route runner, and attacks with good tempo. Him being high cut will limit his route tree a bit, and Higgins isn’t a great overall athlete, but he clearly has a role.
Sleeper safety to know
Speaking of Iowa State sleepers, they have a safety in Malik Verdon that people need to get more familiar with. A massive safety at around 6-4 and 220 pounds, Verdon put together a healthy season in 2024 and finished with 76 total tackles, four tackles for loss, an interception, snd five pass breakups. Verdon surprised some by getting invited to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Verdon had flashed previously for Iowa State but had dealt with various injuries in years prior. He is an explosive athlete who does his best work playing near the line of scrimmage. The Ohio native profiles best as a strong safety who could also do a lot on the second level. Special teams is also a major selling point.
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