Grading the Bengals drafting Shemar Stewart with the 17th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft
The NFL world had a strong inkling that the Cincinnati Bengals were going to take a defensive linemen with their first-round pick. Shemar Stewart became that player with the 17th overall pick.In the eyes of the Bengals, this decision came at the intersection of need and value. Very few clubs boasted a worse pass rush […]
The NFL world had a strong inkling that the Cincinnati Bengals were going to take a defensive linemen with their first-round pick. Shemar Stewart became that player with the 17th overall pick.
In the eyes of the Bengals, this decision came at the intersection of need and value. Very few clubs boasted a worse pass rush than Cincinnati last year, and Stewart was considered an early first-round pick who ended up almost smack dab in the middle of the round.
But there's more to Stewart and the context of this pick than meets the eye, and grading the pick requires the inclusion of said context.
Bengals' grade for drafting Shemar Stewart 17th overall
This pick is all about upside, or at least how you perceive upside. Stewart is a physical specimen standing 6-5 and nearly 270 pounds with freakishly long arms and a wide wingspan to boot.
Stewart looks every bit of an AFC North edge defender, and looks are just the beginning. His combination of speed and explosion for his size are otherworldly, which allowed him to make some crazy plays in college.
Players who look and move like Stewart ala Travon Walker, YaYa Diaby, and Odafe Oweh have a place in the NFL, but not all of them turn out to be high quality players without showing that they can produce at that level in college. Stewart's lack of production at Texas A&M is why his "upside" might actually be more limited than you'd think.
When combining his market share production in terms of tackles, tackles for loss, sacks, etc with his age and the level of competition he played, you get a fairly average production profile.
Average to the point where him simply being a long-term starter would be a success story here. Is that the goal of a top-20 draft pick? It certainly shouldn't be.
Stewart could become an outlier and the Bengals would reap the benefits of having an athletic freak boost their defensive line. They'd look like geniuses for landing a player with his physical traits 17 picks into the draft. That outcome is far less likely compared to what's expected, and that's Stewart having to work his tail off to become anything more than a rotational player.
Cincinnati did address a need here with Stewart, and they certainly found a player who can physically survive in this league, but the odds of him being a starting-level player, let alone something more than that, are notably low. The initial grade must reflect that.
Pick Grade: C-
Cincinnati Bengals 3 biggest needs entering Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft after drafting Shemar Stewart
Cincinnati still has needs in the trenches entering the second day of the 2025 NFL Draft.
