Josaiah Stewart, Edge Defender

Height/Weight: 6-1, 245 lbs

Age: 21

Michigan

Season	Pass Rush Pressures	Sacks	Total Tackles
2021	41	15	21
2022	40	3	27
2023	29	6	37
2024	37	9	27
Career Totals	147	33	112

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Pros:

• Extremely Impressive Consistency and Experience
  Josaiah Stewart is a four-year starter at edge defender for two teams (Coastal Carolina and Michigan) who has logged at least 29 pressures in every single season of his college football career. It doesn't matter who he's playing against, Stewart is giving his everything, creating multiple pressures per game.
• Impressive Speed and Power at His Size
  Stewart's burst off the ball is among the best in the 2025 NFL Draft class. He's a bit undersized at 6'1", 245 pounds so he needs to be fast. When Stewart combines that speed into power once engaged with an offensive blocker he can quite often rip right through first contact with club or simple swim moves.
• Elite Pass Rush Rate Stats
  Josaiah Stewart finished the 2024 college football season with the single highest pass rush win rate among all power conference edge defenders in the nation, at over 30%. He posted a 14% or higher pressure rate in every single season and finished really strong this past year on a down-to-down basis.

Very intrigued with the skill-set of Michigan EDGE 0 Josaiah Stewart. Explosive with a great club-rip from him to bring the QB down. Will be watching him closely in Mobile at the @seniorbowl pic.twitter.com/vzrcZf7aZc

— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) January 16, 2025

Cons

• Major Size Questions at the NFL Level
  It's hard to find many successful edge defenders in the NFL who measure in at 6'1", 245 pounds. We'll see how his length looks at the NFL Combine, but that might be non-negotiable issue for some teams that may have considered selecting him early otherwise.
• Limited Upside in Any Area Except Pass Rush
  Josaiah Stewart is a fun pass rushing weapon, but he doesn't do well in coverage when he does rarely drop into it. He also isn't exactly dynamic as a run defender either. A player of his size may be asked to do more at the NFL level and he can't quite do anything but rush the passer well just yet.
• Tackling Issues in Traffic
  He's strong for his size and can set the edge of a defensive line pretty well, but he struggles making tackles in traffic. Getting off of tough blocks and completing the tackle inside the tackles is just not his strong suit and it showed on his 18% missed tackle rate last season.

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Player Evaluation:

Josaiah Stewart brings elite speed, pass rush rate stats, consistency, and experience having played four full years of college football at a high level. If teams ask him to line up wide, outside, standing up as a pass rusher Stewart is going to find some success.

However, Stewart might get thrown around in the run game at 6'1", 245 pounds. And if he can't bring truly elite pass rush value having him on the field on early downs may never make sense for a good portion of NFL teams. Odd-front zone blitz heavy teams may prioritize his skill set more than others, but he might have a ceiling other pass rushers in this class don't have.

Player Comparison:

Harold Landry
There isn't a single good size comparison currently playing near every down in the NFL for Josaiah Stewart, but Harold Landry might be close. He's short for his position at 6'2", but does have decent arm length and strength. Landry's bend and speed were what carried him on draft day and that will have to be the case for Stewart too.

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A to Z Rankings:

A to Z Big Board Ranking: 125

A to Z Draft Grade: 6.25 (out of 10)

Draft projection: Early Day Three (6.01-7.00)

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