The NFL Combine is underway, and while this is always a great time for the Steelers to see how athletic the upcoming draft class is, you also can see some negative impacts of the event. This can be so significant that players fall off some boards entirely.
Unfortunately, for one of the top testing players, the Steelers will likely no longer have interest.
One of the earliest winners of the combine has been Shemar Stewart. The Texas A&M product came out and dominated every test he took part in. He also looked the part of a defensive lineman standing at 6’5 with over 34-inch arms.
As an athlete, he ran a 4.59 forty-yard dash with an explosive 1.58 10-yard split. He topped that off with an equally impressive 40-inch vertical and a 10’11” broad jump. While there are more numbers to consider, he is already looking like one of the best-testing defenders in NFL history.
Normally I wait before posting again, but Stewart was just close enough that it mattered.
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) February 28, 2025
We officially have our first 10.00 watch of the season!
This ranked 1 out of 1802 DE from 1987 to 2025. https://t.co/r9HXsXwSH4 pic.twitter.com/U45LdHmkAn
On paper, he looks like one of the freakiest defensive line prospects in recent years, and he should be a target for Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Steelers might as well take Texas A&M Shemar Stewart off their NFL Draft board
The lone issue for Stewart is his weight. His listed playing weight in school was 290 pounds. Had he weighed in there, or even somewhere in the 280s, the argument would be made that Stewart slots in perfectly as a 3-4 defensive end.
Instead, Stewart came in at a shredded 267 pounds, and he tested primarily with the edge rushers, not the defensive linemen. While cutting weight is common before the combine, it seems like most, including Stewart himself, view his best position as an edge rusher, not a lineman.
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Following his dominant performance, most are expecting Stewart to go somewhere in the top-25 picks. While a dominant athlete, he is still getting dinged for his raw play style and lacking production.
For Pittsburgh, it is impossible to justify using their first-round pick on an edge rusher. Even if Stewart puts back on some weight, taking him is a disservice to your team given his best fit.
His best spot seems like a 4-3 end, where he can use his size in the trenches. In a 3-4, he could fit a Preston Smith-type role, where he plays edge rusher in base and kicks inside to the interior on passing downs, but the Steelers have failed with players like that in the past.
I was and remain as high as anyone on Stewart, but given his weight and desired position, he is officially off my board for the Steelers. Taking him would require too much projection, and for a team that has consistently failed with projects like that, they should go in a different direction in the first round.