Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Shemar Stewart is part of the plan for the defense in 2026.
After a disaster of an opening season as a pro, Stewart can’t do much else but climb next year. He’s started that journey off this summer with a normal offseason, as opposed to the draft prep and contract standoff that defined his experience one year ago.
That said, Stewart isn’t a big part of the plan.
As Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus recently explained, Stewart has a serious climb to make.
“Stewart playing only 280 snaps due to knee and ankle injuries complicated the picture, but even when healthy, he underwhelmed mightily,” Locker wrote. “His 41.2 overall PFF grade was the worst among 120 edge rushers to appear on 250 or more snaps, powered by a dismal 29.3 PFF run-defense grade. Even as a pass-rusher, Stewart placed in the 12th percentile in PFF pass-rush grade and in the 16th percentile for pass-rush win rate.”
A normal offseason and no injuries should help. But the Bengals gave themselves some insurance this offseason when they signed Boye Mafe and drafted Cashius Howell. Should Stewart struggle again, there’s nothing forcing Stewart on the field when those two can rotate with Myles Murphy.
That feels extremely unlikely to happen, though. The Bengals have plans to use a multiple formation, which means putting Stewart’s immense physical traits to work all over the place. Barring a disaster, he should have most onlookers forget about his rookie year completely by season’s end.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals’ Shemar Stewart has nowhere to go but up while under pressure
Reporting by Chris Roling, Bengals Wire / Bengals Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris Roling, Bengals Wire | USA TODAY Network
