Look: Bengals First Round Pick Shemar Stewart Addresses Lack of College Sack Production

CINCINNATI — Bengals first round pick Shemar Stewart is hoping to make an impact as a rookie, even if he didn't put up major sack numbers in college.

The 21-year-old had 4.5 sacks in three seasons at Texas A&M. He finished with 1.5 sacks in each of his three seasons (37 total games).

There's been plenty of discussion about his lack of production in college. What would he say to those that question his ability?

"Just sit back and watch me work," Stewart said in a 1-on-1 conversation. "That's all I gotta say."

Stewart joins a defensive end room that includes Trey Hendrickson, Myles Murphy and Joseph Ossai. It wouldn't be shocking to see the first rounder start as a rookie.

He was one of the best athletes in this year's draft. Stewart measured 6-foot-5 and weighed 267 pounds at the combine in February. He ran a 4.59 second 40-yard dash and also had a 40-inch vertical jump and a broad jump of 10-foot-11.

"As a coach, if you think you're worth a s--- at all, you're going to watch a guy with all the traits and say, 'I can get [the sacks] out of him, I can get him to play,'" a longtime former NFL defensive line coach told ESPN's Jeff Legwold before the NFL Draft last month. "Those are the pound-the-table guys. You don't want plateau players, guys who are as good as they're going to be. You want potential."

Shemar Stewart is a DE prospect in the 2025 draft class. He scored a 10.00 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1 out of 2012 DE from 1987 to 2025.https://t.co/ACSFv0wnnK pic.twitter.com/g4DbViX3qJ
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) March 31, 2025

Stewart certainly has potential. It's up to new Bengals defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, defensive coordinator Al Golden and the rest of the staff to maximize his talent to get quality production right away.

Check out my whole conversation with Stewart below:

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