Texas A&M junior defensive lineman Shemar Stewart, along with Nic Scourton and Shemar Turner, entered the 2025 NFL Draft after the 2024 season, which ended with a disappointing finish, mainly due to the Aggie defense giving up too many explosive plays through the air and on the ground.
Going into the 2024 campaign, all three players were overhyped. After finishing with a collective 8.5 sacks, many, including myself, wondered if their underwhelming performance was due to playing too heavy after Scourton and Stewart dropped weight before participating in the NFL Combine.
Due to Shemar Turner's recent leg surgery, he did not participate in the Combine. At the same time, Scourton and especially Stewart performed at an elite level, providing a significant boost heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, which is less than two weeks away.
While Scourton is considered a potential low first-round pick, he will likely be selected on Friday. In contrast, Stewart is considered a lock for the first round and could end up going in the top ten or 15, primarily due to his Combine performance and athletic traits. Still, his lack of college production is worrying and has led to the conversation that will follow the early parts of his career: Boom or bust?
On Friday, USA TODAY writer Michael Middelhurst-Schwartz ranked ten players in the 2025 NFL Draft with "boom or bust" potential. To no surprise, Shemar Stewart came in at No. 2, primarily due to his massive traits vs. production dichotomy that all 32 teams have and will continue to consider before April 24.
"The high-end traits are all there. The production isn't. The dichotomy between what Stewart can achieve as a pass rusher and what he has managed to yield so far has stirred significant debate about his value in a deep class of edge rushers. Ultimately, it will be on NFL general managers to stack him up against his more accomplished peers and determine whether he can translate his considerable athleticism."
This is the correct plan for Stewart for every Franchise that takes a chance on the former five-star prospect, whose freaky athleticism and SEC experience is the reason for his rise in recent mock drafts, but at the end of the day, he'll need to produce at the next level.
"Thus far, the disconnect has been impossible to ignore. The 6-5, 267-pound former five-star recruit managed just 1 ½ sacks in each of his three seasons in College Station. While that can partially be attributed to his usage – the Aggies deployed him in a manner that didn't afford him as many true edge reps – he also exhibited a concerning habit for missing tackles, often simply falling off the ball carrier when he was in ...
