Worse draft in the Burrow Era

[*ochocincos*]

(Today, 02:04 AM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Didn’t take long for me to get on board. Best thing I’ve heard so far is that he had the fastest time to first pressure in FBS.. hmm that sounds nice.  

I was afraid of the lack of college sack production but it’s been proven to not be the end of the world with Danielle Hunter and Odafe Oweh. We swung for the fences and took a home run swing. I’m cool with that.

"Taylor pointed to how often he saw Stewart around the quarterback and the analytics bear him out. Pro Football Focus had his time to first pressure at 2.43 seconds, best among all FBS players."


"NBC Sports' Chris Simms says Stewart is "one of the safest picks in the draft."

"You're not going to have to worry about him being physically overmatched," Simms said. "The ceiling has a chance to be one of the greatest players in the history of football. That's the talent and physical makeup the guy has.""

https://www.bengals.com/video/zac-taylor-press-conference-april-21-2025



I like Kay

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JZMCy-OmiDE



https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/33201479/texas-aggies-add-5-star-de-shemar-stewart-no-1-recruiting-class
He was the #1 DE recruit in the nation in 22. True junior. He will turn 26 in the 5th year of his rookie contract. 

I wish people would stop saying look at Danielle Hunter.
Hunter was a 3rd round pick, not 17th overall.
That's more acceptable to take a gamble on someone who produced little in college.

And then Oweh mentioned?
Oweh had more sacks in 2019 (5.0) than Stewart had his whole college career (4.5, 1.5 each year).
Oweh also went 31st overall, not 17th overall.
And don't forget Oweh took until his 4TH YEAR before he eclipsed 5.0 sacks in the NFL.

Stewart's own teammate last year on the same DL (Scourton) had 5.0 sacks.

Stewart may get going in the NFL, and I hope he does.
Ultimately, this is on coaching now.
And how long will it take to actually get him productive?
And when I personally say productive, I mean 7+ sacks. That's my personal expectation for a 1st round DE.

I won't go as far to say worst draft in the Burrow era because we haven't seen him yet in a Bengal uniform, and he may eventually become a good player.
I just really don't want to see a 1st round pick as a rotational player for 2+ years again.
Bengals need dudes to help them win now while Burrow, Chase, and Higgins are in their prime.