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Shemar Stewart, EDGE, Texas A&M (Junior)

Picture of Rayane M

Rayane M

The 2025 NFL Draft is fast approaching, and despite an initial impression that this year's class might lack talent, The Trick Play team has once again delved into the tapes to bring you scouting reports on the players who will soon wear the jerseys of your favorite franchises.

From Quarterback to Safety, including the trenches where Offensive Linemen and Defensive Linemen engage in a relentless battle, Rayane and Valentin will walk you through the new faces of this 2025 draft class while everyone is excited about the coming NFL Draft


Strengths :

  • Age
  • Size
  • Athleticism
  • Run Stopper
  • Huge power
  • Good play recognition
  • Willing in pursuits
  • Disciplined


Weaknesses :

  • Pass Rush
  • Bend
  • Leverage
  • Coverage abilities

TTProfil

 

To begin profiling Shemar Stewart's value, we need to mention two points that could be of interest to a number of teams, even before we lay eyes on the pats. We're talking, of course, about his age and size.


Let's talk about his age first: at 21 (he'll be 22 in November), Shemar is still a very young prospect, so he'll have plenty of time to work on his development. As we all know, young players are always of interest to franchises because of their potential, and the same goes for physical or athletic monsters, and here again we've clearly ticked that box with Shemar Stewart.
At 6'6 for 290lbs before the official measurement was taken (after official measurement, we're finally talking about a player who emerges at 6'5 for 267lbs, so we're clearly still talking about a beautiful baby), Shemar is strong and already seems to have a body built for the NFL, and he's not to be outdone in terms of his arm extension, which again seems to be really important until we get the official figures. Stewart's wingspan matches up well with what I thought I saw on the tapes, and while his arm size is in the upper mid-range, his wingspan is insane.

If these two simple points alone have enabled many players to be drafted over the years, Stewart doesn't stop there. In fact, he possesses another head-turning trait, namely considerable athletic ability for someone of his size. At the time of writing, I had said that I wouldn't be surprised if his value skyrocketed following a big performance at the combine, but I wasn't disappointed, as Stewart is now being talked about as a lock 1st rounder, and his name can even be seen in some mock drafts in the top 15 of the draft.
The reason? The two points I mentioned earlier, but also a time of 4.59 on 40yds, which puts him in the top 94% of players in his position who have ever taken part in the Combine. On his dry trigger exercise, he ranks in the top 98%, while his broad jump performance is in the top 99%. Enough to make many an expert drool. 
 
However, despite what I've been hearing lately about him, Shemar Stewart isn't just a good-looking guy, far from it, and he's certainly one of the best Run Stoppers of the year in my opinion. He's truly excellent, if not elite in this respect.
To be so good on the Run stop, he relies in particular on great power in both his upper and lower body.
On his upper body, his power is felt above all thanks to a powerful Punch, but also to an ability to separate from the blocker which, here again, is not far from elite thanks to terrifying strength. This ability is impressive, and I can't count the number of times I've seen Shemar separate himself from a block that was well underway on the images.
On his lower body, his power is expressed more by his ability to fight double teams or not to give up ground once the block has started.

To make a real impact on the running game, he can also count on a good reading of the game. Shemar rarely lets himself be fooled, and when he is, he doesn't hesitate to draw the attention of more than one blocker by colliding with his opposite number, creating chaos on the Scrimmage Line and freeing one or more of his team-mates at the same time.
What's more, Shemar is a very willing player on his pursuits, which once again helps him to make an impact on the running game. In these situations, the ball carrier can't waste too much time reading his blocks without risking Stewart coming in like a buffalo to tackle him.
 
Finally, if we add to this a very disciplined side to his game, Shemar clearly represents one of the best values in the draft when it comes to defending the run and improving your defense in this area. 
Not bad for a simple physique, eh? 
We'll talk about his Pass Rush skills in a moment to explain this label that sticks to his skin, but I did notice a real willingness on Shemar's part to attempt Counter moves, despite a poor movement palette and a very Power Rush-oriented approach. This won't change my opinion of his Pass rush abilities, but I like to see that there's a real willingness to attempt these Counter moves.
 
Now here's the thing: while Shemar is clearly on a tiny level of being able to claim to be elite on his ability to influence the Run stop, that's clearly not the case when it comes to his ability to shine in Pass rush situations. Indeed, there's still tons of progress to be made on this aspect of his game, as he's Raw on this point in particular.
 
Let's first talk about his pass rush repertoire, which is, let's not beat around the bush, and sorry for the term, utterly dreadful.
We're really looking at the bare minimum for a power-rush-oriented pass rusher. Occasionally, we might see a rare rip move here and there, a few awkward attempts at hand fighting, and that's about it. No, really.
The rest of the time, we’re treated to a basic bull rush, which he’ll sometimes add a stutter step to, just to create an illusion. When using the bull rush, Shemar rarely looks to disengage once it’s executed, and he almost never uses his multiple bull rushes to try and transition into a push-pull.
At the moment, it’s still extremely lacking, and the team that selects him will have a tremendous amount of work to do, if not all of it, if they want to make him a legitimate threat on the edge in pass rush situations. I haven’t even said a lethal threat, just a threat that needs to be considered, which shows the extent of the work required. As I mentioned in the strengths section, Shemar does at least have the intent to sometimes use a counter move, but unfortunately, his glaring lack of variety in his technical arsenal prevents him from excelling in this area as well, which is very unfortunate.
 
Still on his pass-rushing abilities, his bend is not great. We know that for a player of his build and playing style, it can be difficult to develop a good bend, but in Shemar's case, what he shows is still too insufficient to be a constant threat at the professional level. He still relies too much on his raw power, and since that has worked so far, he has neglected technique, which could cost him dearly when he enters the NFL.
 
Leverage is another important technical point for any good pass rusher, but also of particular importance in terms of run-stopping ability.
Stewart is constantly too high up on his supports, which is really frustrating, and he loses any possible advantage when he finds himself in a situation where his power rush abilities should make him shine. As someone who loves to Bull-rush, he takes away from himself the main point that makes this movement so effective. Similarly, when facing a racing game or a double team, he's usually far too high.
The crazy thing is that despite this, he dominates head and shoulders a good 80% of the reps in racing situations that I've seen. Just imagine if he learned to lower his center of gravity a little and make optimal use of his power angles, he could be truly monstrous, but there's no secret, it takes work, and even more so when you've got a build like his.
It's quite simple: if he improves significantly on this simple point, he could go on to become one of the most influential rookies of next season, so important is his contribution to the ground game, but that's the heart of the matter. Can Shemar improve? That's a real question, given his lack of progress during his time at Texas A&M.
 
Lastly, although this is anecdotal in my opinion, since any normal coach would never consider him in an Outside LB role, I'd prefer to warn you (Travon Walker jurisprudence obliges) that I've seen him drop into the zone a few times on taps, and it's catastrophic. Shemar isn't comfortable at all and so, clearly, I wouldn't recommend placing him in an Outside Linebacker position on a front 30.
 
 

Ultimately, Shemar Stewart is our Travon Walker copycat for this rookie class. As I told you last year, this type of profile is starting to emerge more and more, and is still of great interest to defensive coordinators. If in 2023 we had Myles Murphy (Bengals) and Felix Anudike-Uzomah (Chiefs) in the style, this year it's Shemar Stewart's turn to be the representative of this player archetype and if the two aforementioned days had some similarities, Shemar himself is almost a carbon copy in the sense that he is terribly dominant against the run, extremely Raw on his pass rush abilities, but endowed with an impressive physique and terrifying athletic abilities.

If I'm not a big fan of Travon Walker, it's more because of his selection as 1st Overall than because of his player archetype or physical profile, which, on the contrary, often appeal to me. In the same way, Shemar falls into the same pot, if it's to select him at the right spot to play as a Front 30 Defensive End, that would be top, as a Strong side Defensive End on a hybrid Front 40, really perfect. With a bit of development, maybe even as a Defensive Tackle Tech-3 on a classic front 40, I'd say “why not”. Top 15 draft as a pure Edge rusher, or even Outside Linebacker on a front 30 like Travon Walker on the Jags, absolutely not. 

I really like what I've seen from the Texas A&M pats, and thanks to an excellent ability to stop the run, an impressive physique and athletic ability, and also a young age that could allow for some interesting development, I have no trouble seeing Shemar Stewart as a second-half 2nd rounder and Tier 3 for the time being. I'd even be prepared to hear a slight reach if we fall in love with the player or the project he represents. But don't try to sell him to me as a first-round pick like it was done with Myles Murphy or Travon Walker because, in my opinion, Shemar doesn't have that value. It would not do the player any favors to select him with those kinds of expectations, quite the opposite.

I’m adding these few lines as an update now that we’re in the final stretch before the Draft, and while I’m not surprised by the value Shemar has gained after the Combine since I suspected it based on what he showed on tape, I regret that, once again, the consensus waited for the Combine to see that Shemar was impressive athletically and once again made a huge spectacle around the player, inflating his value, which will only end up being detrimental to him.

I’m not changing my opinion at all on Shemar’s qualities and the affection I have for him, but his value is not that of a first-round pick. Second half of the second round and Tier 3 for Shemar Stewart.

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