Bengals’ Shemar Stewart Pick Still Raises Concerns One Year Later
CINCINNATI, OH - JANUARY 04: Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart 97 before the game against the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals on January 4, 2026, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire NFL, American Football Herren, USA JAN 04 Browns at Bengals EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon260104069
CINCINNATI, OH - JANUARY 04: Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart 97 before the game against the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals on January 4, 2026, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire NFL, American Football Herren, USA JAN 04 Browns at Bengals EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon260104069
Things are becoming problematic between Shemar Stewart and the Cincinnati Bengals. Their decision to get the DE in the 2025 draft did them little good in the season.
The Bengals drafted Stewart with the 17th overall pick in 2025, to solve the pass rush problems. But after his rookie season, his PFF (Pro Football Focus) score paint a different picture. The Cincinnati DE had the worst grade among all 2025 Round 1 picks, with a meagre 41.0 grade.
New York Giants' Abdul Carter, Atlanta Falcons' Jalon Walker, and James Pearce, the other DEs in this grouping, posted PFF grades of 74.7, 72.8, and 57.8, respectively. Walker was selected just two picks before Stewart, which draws more concern.
CINCINNATI, OH - JANUARY 04: Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart 97 during the game against the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals on January 4, 2026, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire NFL, American Football Herren, USA JAN 04 Browns at Bengals EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon260104132
CINCINNATI, OH - JANUARY 04: Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart 97 during the game against the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals on January 4, 2026, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire NFL, American Football Herren, USA JAN 04 Browns at Bengals EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon260104132
Stewart only played eight games in 2025, and could record just one sack, 11 tackles, and two tackles for loss. Sure, his low PFF grade could be blamed on him missing a lot of time in the season due to injuries. But his stats from college weren't a great picture either.
NFL draft analyst Brett Kollman ranked Stewart 34th among edge rushers in his draft class, when it came to pass rush win rate. In his three seasons of college football, the DE had recorded only 4.5 sacks. For comparison, Walker, coming out of Georgia, played only six more games than him, but finished with 12.5 sacks .
While in college, Stewart recorded 21 run stops on 575 rush defense snaps at a rate of 3.7%, which would rank him 203rd out of 204 edge rushers in the last decade. Yet, he surprisingly scored a perfect 10 RAS (relative athletic score) at the 2025 Combine, which might have pushed Cincinnati to draft him.
This year, they have the 10th overall pick, and are in clear need of a strong pass rusher. But the Bengals are still bullish on Shemar Stewart, despite this investment bringing in a poor return.
Cincinnati Are Positive About Shemar Stewart Developing This Year
Appearing on the Bengals Booth Podcast, Bengals' defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said that Stewart would excel with some growth.
"Year two is gonna be a much better year for him. I would say there were times that he wasn't ready to be out there. I think with some development and off-season, a full off-season, he's healthy, he's doing a great job in his off-season training right now. I look for him to have a big year. And, I'm excited about his future."
Following the departure of their defensive line anchor, Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals are back in their rebuilding phase. While they will very likely pick up some more linemen in the draft, the development of remaining players like Shemar Stewart becomes critical.
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Written by
Rishab Nandi
Edited by
Afreen Kabir