6) Stewart dismisses production concerns. Standing 6-foot-5 and 281 pounds, Shemar Stewart is the quintessential “first guy off the bus” prospect. And with a traitsy game to complement his imposing frame, the defensive lineman entered the combine with plenty of first-round hype — despite lacking typical first-round production.
In 37 games as an edge defender at Texas A&M, Stewart produced a grand total of 4.5 sacks, logging exactly 1.5 in each of his three seasons. This is the blot on his draft résumé, something he’ll have to answer for throughout the pre-draft process — including on Wednesday in Indianapolis, where Stewart was asked what he’d say to teams wondering about his low sack total.
“Sometimes, the stats don’t tell the whole story. It’s all about the film. And when you look at the film, you can really see what was going on, for the most part,” Stewart said. “But I’ll say production is a little bit overrated.”
That last sentence could be a spicy sound bite in a vacuum, but Stewart was deriding the tendency to derive value from one simple statistic.
“I wasn’t a sack-chasing warrior,” Stewart said. “I just wanted to become the best player for my team. And sometimes the stats don’t show that.”
NFL Network draft guru Daniel Jeremiah agrees. With Stewart at No. 28 overall in his pre-combine prospect rankings, our resident scout says the sack figures are misleading because “he still impacts the game, even without major sack production.” This is true. By Pro Football Focus’ count, Stewart led the Aggies with 39 pressures in 12 games this past season.
Stats aside, Stewart boasts the kind of freakish athleticism that plays well in draft season. After putting on a show in Senior Bowl practices, he plans to provide an encore in Thursday’s workout at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“I got something in the bag for y’all,” Stewart said with a smile.
EXCLUSIVE: Former NFL star Ricky Williams is fronting a documentary about the physical, mental and emotional toll of an American football career.
There might never be a better candidate for this piece than Sam Darnold in 2025. Similar to Baker Mayfield last year, Darnold has a range of outcomes that
Todd Boehly is remaking Chelsea and angering some supporters in the process.But while Boehly attempts to guide his club back into the Champions League, the Blue
Ben SolakFeb 28, 2025, 11:25 AMCloseBen Solak joined ESPN in 2024 as a national NFL analyst. He previously covered the NFL at The Ringer, Bleeding Green Nation