CINCINNATI — The Bengals are taking a gamble, a gamble they feel will pay off huge dividends.
They believe that a player that had 4.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss over a three-year career with Texas A&M will prove worthy of a first-round, 17th overall selection to a team that has a desperate need for sack production.
“Traits over production” is a credo that many NFL front offices follow in the draft, and obviously Duke Tobin and the Bengals feel that applies to Shemar Stewart. The Bengals think the tape that shows a high motor in Stewart’s engine means a lot more than 4.5 sacks in 680 pass rushing snaps.
“It could be multiple reasons. My first two years, I didn’t play as much. And this past year, I was getting there, but at the same time, just technical things along the way to the quarterback that I need to refine. And of course, just wrapping up the quarterback once I get there. It’s not like I can’t get there,” Stewart said in a conference call with Cincinnati media Thursday night. “I led the team in pressures. We also had the best defensive line in the SEC in my opinion. It was just minor technical difficulties on my end.”
“The overall athleticism, his effort and his play style, his relentlessness. If there’s a word we want to define our defense with, we want guys that are relentless on all snaps,” coach Zac Taylor said. “I think Shemar fits that to a T.”
Taylor, defensive coordinator Al Golden and defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery believe that Shemar Stewart is talented enough to find the finishing touch at the NFL level and produce. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound edge has the frame to be the dominant player the Bengals so desperately need on defense. He has the motor that made him the third-rated edge on many draft boards, behind only Abdul Carter of Penn State and Jalon Walker at Georgia.
“I just heard guys (complaining) about him when we had to play him. He was the guy they were worried about and now I know why, having studied him,” Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden said. “I’m just really excited about the young man because, again, you’re not really compromising anything with this pick. 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 does upstairs as well. But I see — not just him, but all of these young men and the guys that are on our current roster — I see them for what they can do to help us win and not maybe the one thing that they have to improve.”
Production was the buzzword of the press conferences with Taylor and Golden. Both were peppered with questions about why the Bengals believe that Stewart will find that finishing touch and be that player opposite Trey Hendrickson that can put pressure on opposing quarterbacks while setting an edge on defense.
“We anticipate getting a lot of production,” Taylor said. “We have great faith in our coaches. There’s a lot of near production there as you watch all the clips of him. Again, we see a tremendous football player that’s going to come in and help us.”
Stewart joins a defense that lost Sam Hubbard to retirement and brings back Myles Murphy, Joseph Ossai, Cam Sample and Cedric Johnson. There’s a need not just for a pass rusher but someone who can set an edge on run defense.
“He’s physical. He’s got the dimensions, the speed, the (physicality). He’s got the effort, so there’s tremendous traits there we’re excited about,” Taylor told me.
“Again, the kid — there’s no excuses in him — and again, for us, like Zac was saying earlier, it’s all positive for us,” added Golden. “There’s no negative here. This is a heck of a pick for us. We’re excited about him. 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.”
Does Stewart make the Bengals a more physical defense?
“It has to. It has to. Physical presence, we’ll see when Shemar gets here and gets with our nutrition (team) and (determine) what his optimal weight is, somewhere between 270 and 280 (pounds) and that gives us a stout edge to go along with the guys we have now,” Golden said. “And we’re going to need them all in this division to do what we need to do. There’s no doubt he gives us a physical presence and a strong edge setter.”
Shemar Stewart knows there will be no shortage of doubters among the Bengals fan base, judging everything on those 4.5 sacks in 680 pass rush snaps and a missed tackle rate that some evaluators had at 1 out of every four, a rate Stewart dismissed as not accurate Thursday. He will be using that as the ultimate motivation to justify Cincinnati’s selection of him at 17.
“Oh, yeah — a big chip on my shoulder. Don’t worry. It’s going to stay there. I feel like that’s people overlooking me for too long. And I just have to come in there and prove you all right,” Stewart said.
Al Golden called him an ascending player. Does Stewart believe he’s only scratched the surface of his production?
“Not even close. Trust me. When I get there, it’s going to be a scary sight,” Stewart said.
