Shemar Stewart 2025 NFL Draft Texas A&M EDGE Scouting Report
In a stacked 2025 NFL Draft class, Shemar Stewart is a physical edge rusher from Texas A&M who will likely go in the first round of the draft. Today, we’ll break down his NFL outlook in this scouting report. We will be breaking down his strengths, areas for improvement, and his potential draft grade.
Shemar Stewart 2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Stewart arrived at Texas A&M as a five-star recruit from Monsignor Pace High School in Florida, touted for his rare blend of size, athleticism, and explosiveness. Over three seasons with the Aggies, he appeared in 37 games, starting 12 in his junior year (2024). While his stat line—65 career tackles, 4.5 sacks, and 12 tackles for loss—doesn’t scream dominance, his impact transcends the box score. Stewart’s development as a run defender and jaw-dropping athletic testing at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine has elevated his draft stock, positioning him as a high-upside prospect.
HT: 6050
WT: 267
40: 4.59
ARM: 3418
Strengths
- Elite Athletic Profile: Stewart’s Combine performance—a 4.59-second 40-yard dash, 40-inch vertical, and 10’11” broad jump at 267 pounds—is historically rare for an edge defender. His speed, burst, and agility defy his massive frame, making him a matchup nightmare.
- Run Defense Prowess: In 2024, Stewart emerged as one of the nation’s top run-stopping edge defenders, earning an 88.2 PFF run defense grade (fourth among EDGE players). He can set the edge, stack blockers, and pursue ball carriers sideline-to-sideline.
- Length and Power: With 34¼-inch arms and heavy hands, Stewart jolts offensive tackles at the point of attack, often resetting the line of scrimmage. His bull rush converts speed to power effectively, collapsing pockets when he times his push correctly.
- Motor and Effort: Stewart plays with relentless energy, chasing plays from the backside and finishing through contact. His hustle is a coach’s dream, suggesting untapped potential with proper refinement.
- Versatility: Comfortable in both two- and three-point stances, Stewart aligns as a 5-technique or wide-9 EDGE. He’s shown flashes of sliding inside on passing downs, hinting at scheme flexibility.
Areas for Improvement
- Limited Pass Rush Arsenal: Stewart’s 4.5 career sacks reflect an underdeveloped pass-rushing toolkit. He relies heavily on raw athleticism—speed-to-power moves and an occasional swim—rather than a nuanced plan to beat blockers consistently.
- Hand Technique: His hand placement and timing as a pass rusher are inconsistent. Too often, he fails to strike first, allowing offensive linemen to dictate engagement and neutralize his length advantage.
- Bend and Flexibility Concerns: While impressive for his size, Stewart lacks the elite ankle flexion to flatten his rush arc consistently. This limits his ability to turn tight corners and finish at the quarterback.
- Production Gap: Despite generating 39 pressures in 2024 (per PFF), his sack totals remain low. Missed opportunities in the open field and a tendency to overpursue suggest a need for better play-finishing instincts.
- Raw Instincts: Stewart’s processing speed improved in 2024, but he occasionally misreads keys or abandons gap discipline in pursuit of big plays, a liability against NFL misdirection schemes.
Conclusion
Stewart is a classic high-ceiling, high-risk prospect. His freakish athleticism and run-stopping prowess make him a tantalizing Day 1 pick, but his raw pass-rush skills demand patience. The right team will see past the modest sack totals, betting on his traits to mold a future star. For now, he’s a boom-or-bust enigma whose draft slot will hinge on how much NFL evaluators trust their coaching staff to finish the job Texas A&M started.
Stewart profiles as a developmental EDGE with immediate utility as a run defender and long-term potential as a three-down starter. His athletic traits align with a 4-3 defensive end role, where his length and power can anchor the edge while he refines his pass-rush craft. Teams like the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, or Kansas City Chiefs—franchises with strong defensive line coaching—could unlock his Pro Bowl upside. Alternatively, a 3-4 scheme might experiment with him as a 5-technique, leveraging his versatility.
His lack of polish suggests he’ll begin as a rotational piece, likely thriving in sub-packages where his burst can exploit tired offensive linemen. With coaching to expand his pass-rush repertoire and sharpen his technique, Stewart could evolve into a Danielle Hunter-esque success story—a traits-based prospect who blossoms in the pros. Like Kwity Paye, Stewart is a similarly toolsy, run-first EDGE who took time to harness his pass-rush potential at the next level.
Round Grade: Mid 1st – Early 2nd Round
Stats: Per Sports Reference
| Season | Team | G | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sk | FR | Yds |
| 2022 | Texas A&M | 12 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023* | Texas A&M | 13 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 43 |
| 2024* | Texas A&M | 12 | 14 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 37 | 30 | 35 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 43 |