Cincinnati Bengals Take Texas A&M Defensive End Shemar Stewart With No. 17 Pick in 2025 NFL Draft

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals picked Texas A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart with the 17th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night.

Cincinnati's pass rusher desperately needed a boost and they got it with Stewart. He had 31 tackles (5.5 for loss), 1.5 sacks and 39 pressures last season. He was ninth on Dane Brugler's big board.

"A one-year starter at Texas A&M, Stewart lined up primarily as an edge rusher in head coach Mike Elko's four-man front, also spending time head-up over the tackle and inside over the B-gap," Brugler wrote. "He is the type of prospect who will test the "traits over production" slogan that NFL teams subscribe to, as he never had more than 1.5 sacks in any of his three seasons in College Station. However, his tape shows a far more disruptive player — he led the Aggies in pressures (39) in 2024. Stewart explodes out of his stance and is capable of creating immediate knockback or winning high-side with upfield burst/flexibility. His counter measures require maintenance, although he finds a lot of success based on his initial swipe or long-arm move. The No. 1 area in which he needs to improve is as a finisher. He has the athleticism to get to the ball but has no business missing as many tackles as he does, especially given his power and movements. Overall, Stewart needs to mature his rush efficiency and finishing skills, but he has a rare combination of talent and motor to be a game-wrecker against both the pass and the run. His best football is ahead of him."

Stewart joins a defensive line room that includes Trey Hendrickson, B.J. Hill, Myles Murphy and TJ Slaton. He was 23rd on Daniel Jeremiah's big board.

"Stewart is a long, dynamic and athletic edge rusher," He generates a lot of pressures but struggles to finish in the passing game," Jeremiah wrote. "That’s why his low sack total (4.5 in three seasons) is misleading. He still impacts the game, even without major sack production. He has a very explosive first step and uses his long-arm move to run offensive tackles back to the passer. He bends well at the top of his rush for such a big edge defender. He has an outstanding closing burst once he clears the tackle. He does need to add more moves to his arsenal, but I guarantee defensive line coaches are going to be lining up to work with him. Against the run, he can easily set the edge and he has the speed to chase and make plays on the back side. I’m sure some will struggle to see past the limited sack total, but there is just too much talent here to fall into that trap."