The Green Bay Packers have thrown a lot of resources at their defensive line. In 2024, they finished eighth in sack percentage but 16th in pressure percentage.
“I tell our defense all the time, I’ve never seen a quarterback that can complete a pass when he’s on his back,” coach Matt LaFleur said at the end of the season.
With opposing quarterbacks spending too much time on their two legs, the Packers selected Texas A&M edge defender Shemar Stewart in the first round ofDan Parr’s mock draft at NFL.com.
“Matt LaFleur has made it clear that a better pass rush is going to be essential for the Packers to take the next step,” Parr explained. “Stewart has the tools to help, although he might need a little more seasoning.”
Or a lot more.
Stewart spent three years at Texas A&M. He had just 1.5 sacks in all three of those seasons. However, he was one of the big winners during his abbreviated stay at the Senior Bowl, where he measured 6-foot-5 1/8 and 281 pounds with 34 1/4-inch arms.
“Here we have a height-weight-speed freak,” NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah said in naming Stewart one of his 12 Senior Bowl standouts. “There was more disruption than production from Stewart during his college career — he posted just 4.5 sacks in 37 games — but I thought he had an impactful week in practices. All of his traits are elite, and he showed he’s starting to figure some things out as a pass rusher.”
Stewart was third-team all-SEC in 2024, when he set career highs with 31 tackles and 5.5 tackles for losses.
Stewart is Jeremiah’s 27th-ranked prospect. He is Dane Brugler’s ninth-ranked prospect at The Athletic.
“He is the type of prospect who will test the ‘traits over production’ slogan to which many NFL teams subscribe,” Brugler wrote. “However, his tape shows a far more disruptive player than his numbers suggest — he led the Aggies in pressures (39) in 2024.”
At Pro Football Focus, where Stewart is the No. 20 prospect, he was a highly graded run defender with an above-average pass-rush win rate.
“I had a big emphasis on striking in the run game,” he told Dawgs By Nature at the Senior Bowl. “I went back to the roots and started tackling techniques again to improve stopping the run and learning the defensive scheme better.
“One of my biggest downfalls was mental execution and tackling. So, I made a big emphasis on both and improved. I do a lot of things that don’t show up in the stat book. Sometimes, I blow up the play and let somebody else take the sack or tackle. I am not a stat-chasing warrior.”
The Packers have four first-round picks on their defensive line, including ends Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness. They combined for 10.5 sacks and 21 quarterback hits in 2024.
Gary and Van Ness were billed as high-upside players when they were drafted. Stewart is similar.
“If I was a GM, I would take me with the highest pick you got. You don’t want to miss this,” Stewart told NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero at the Senior Bowl.
“I am everything people say I’m not. People say I can’t pass rush. People say I’m not physical. People say I can’t make plays. So that’s what I’m here to do,” Stewart added. “I’m not going to get mad. I’m not going to get mad about criticism, you know. All I’ve got to do is just get better.”
The Bears took an offensive lineman, the Vikings snared a safety and the Lions bolstered their pass rush in Parr’s mock. Receivers went 25th and 26th.
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