Welcome Shamar Stewart

[Bengalbug]

(04-25-2025, 12:11 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Great read. Everyone needs to read it. It is not making excuses for him, it is teaching us his role which was play run first. A lot of college kids looking for a big pay day do their on thing and not what the team asked of them. It appears he did what was asked.

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You also can’t run away from him, he’s shown a relentlessly hot motor that causes him to run down plays from the backside, including screens where he has no reason to be involved in the play, but there he is blasting your receiver.

It was interesting that he played as a DE 3-4, a fair amount of time in college. I also liked the part where he might have been too explosive, and he may need to slow down. I recommend everyone reading that link.

On the tape, it’s clear what Stewart’s most defining pass rush trait is: the forceful speed to power. We define explosiveness a lot as guys going around a lineman with bursts of speed, but I think explosion through a lineman is just as valid, and even more prominent in the NFL. If you think about the last two NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year winners, Los Angeles Rams’ EDGE Jared Verse and Houston Texans’ EDGE Will Anderson Jr., both guys came into the NFL with the most absurd conversion of speed to power. Stewart is going to come into the NFL able to do that, and do it really well.

If there’s one thing I think Stewart needs to improve on, it’s simply finishing plays. I think he’s such a forceful and explosive athlete that he flies in out of control and ends up flying past the QB or not being able to throttle down to get the sack. It’s very much like if you gave an eight-year-old the keys to an F1 car; it would look awesome but some of the throttling down stuff would be an adventure. I think Stewart gets unfairly labeled a “project” when some of his work and pass rush plan is that of a first year starter who can be a superstar--he just needs to figure out how to finish.