Why Cincinnati Bengals Selected Shemar Stewart in First Round of 2025 NFL Draft

CINCINNATI — Bengals legend A.J. Green was at Paycor Stadium on Thursday night ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. The former Pro Bowler was part of the annual draft party that was taking place.

He correctly predicted the Bengals would pick an edge rusher. Unfortunately for fans, it wasn't the one they wanted.

I got on an elevator with multiple writers and reporters to go back down to the media area after Green spoke for roughly 10 minutes. A Bengals fan said "hello," which never gets old by the way and then he said "Anyone but Shemar."

He was referring to Texas A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart. I had the Bengals picking him in my predictive mock draft on Wednesday.

Why not Stewart?

Well, he's the big, long, athletic defensive end that looks like a game changing player, but didn't have the production to back it up. He only had 1.5 sacks for the Aggies last season and 4.5 in three collegiate seasons.

He didn't have the production of a Mike Green or James Pearce.

So why did the Bengals draft Stewart with the 17th overall pick?

The Bengals are taking a risk. But anyone they took with the 17th pick would've had a flaw.

Green was taken off of multiple draft boards due to his off the field issues. Pearce wound up going in the first round, but there are maturity and character concerns with him.

Plus, both guys are much smaller than Stewart, who could comfortably play at 280 pounds.

In reality, Stewart checks every box but one: production.

He's a big, fast, strong, long, hard working defensive end that can kick inside and play a bunch of different roles on the Bengals' defensive line.

He had 39 pressures last season and was disruptive, even if it didn't lead to sacks.

"Sometimes you bet on the traits," Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin said this week. "That’s what this league is about. There’s plenty of examples of guys who have not had great collegiate production but stupendous NFL athletic traits and come into our league and really shined. Coaching is part of it. Development is part of it. Sometimes schematics plays into it. But if you got a guy that likes football that is a tough, physical player with the appropriate dimensions, it’s a pretty good bet he’s going to have some degree of success in our league."

Stewart had 1.5 sacks last season. If that number was 4.5 or 5.5, he probably wouldn't have made it out of the top 10.

The Bengals know he needs to be a better finisher. And they're prepared to help him get there.

"This is a heck of a pick for us. We’re excited about him," Golden said. "We’re excited about his athleticism, about his toughness, about his play style, all those things, so in terms of—there’s a lot of production he’s made. Again, if converts a couple more sacks and they’re not just quarterback hits or hurries, we’re not having this discussion right now because he’s making plays out of his realm a lot of times, too. He’s making a lot of plays on the perimeter and plays downfield because he has the skills to do that. Again, if that’s the only thing we’re focused on when he gets here in terms of quieting that down and making that better and giving him a plan for improvement in terms of that, then we’re going to be successful.”

The Bengals are banking on their coaching staff to maximize Stewart and get the most out of him.

Why do you think they fired Lou Anarumo in January and hired Al Golden? Why did they bring in a new defensive staff, including defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery?

It's for this moment.

They added an ultra talented, physical freak of a defensive end that needs to be developed. At 6-5, 267 pounds, Stewart could realistically start as a rookie.

This isn't a project that's going to take three years to complete. The Bengals revamped their coaching staff and took a freak like Stewart because they think he can help them win now.

Golden spent the past three seasons at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish beat the Aggies 23-13 last August.

“No, I just heard guys bitching about him when we had to play him," Golden said. "He was the guy they were worried about and now I know why, having studied him."

Did the Bengals get it right?

Only time will tell.

Stewart needs to maximize his talent. He's going to have to work hard on his technique, ability to get to the passer and finish when he gets there.

If this coaching staff can help him do that, then there's no reason why he can't be a successful pro.

Stewart has tremendous upside. Pro Bowl potential. Maybe even All-Pro potential.

The Bengals could've taken a risk with a smaller guy that had off-the-field questions. They could've went with a player that fell in the draft due to medical concerns.

They passed on those guys for someone that may have as much upside as anyone in the draft.

"I’m just really excited about the young man because, again, you’re not really compromising anything with this pick," Golden said. "You’re not compromising character, you’re not compromising work ethic, you’re not compromising play style, you’re not compromising height, weight, speed. Again, the focus is on what he needs to improve and that’s fair. But I welcome that challenge and I know Jerry (Montgomery) does upstairs as well."

He doesn't have character concerns. He doesn't have work ethic questions and he has every physical gift needed to be a star in the NFL.

The Bengals are rolling the dice on Stewart. There's no doubt it's a risk. But it's a risk worth taking and it's easy to see why they picked him on Thursday night.

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