How he stacks up: Brugler is very high on Stewart, ranking him as his No. 9 overall prospect in the class in his initial list of the Top 100 players in the draft.
NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah lists Stewart as his No. 27 overall prospect on his most recent version of his Top 50 players in the class. NFL.com lead writer Eric Edholm puts Stewart at No. 15 on his list of the 100 Top Players.
“Workout warrior whose college production (4.5 sacks in three years at Texas A&M) is a turnoff, but Stewart easily could take the Danielle Hunter road to success as an NFL edge,” Edholm wrote.
NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks has a list of the Top 5 players at every position in the class and Stewart comes in at No. 5 among true defensive ends behind Nic Scourton (Texas A&M), Jack Sawyer (Ohio State), Landon Jackson (Arkansas) and Princely Umanmielen (Mississippi).
ESPN’s Matt Miller has Stewart at No. 21 on his list of the Top 50 prospects. Jordan Reid has Stewart at No. 18 in his Top 50 prospects in the class.
“Stewart had only 4.5 sacks in three seasons, but his time to first pressure this past season (2.43 seconds) was No. 1 in the FBS. He is a toolsy prospect who has rushed off the edge and inside and could be a better pro than college player,” Reid said.
ESPN’s Field Yates lists Stewart at No. 14 on his Big Board of the Top 32 prospects in the class.
What he had to say: “I wasn’t a sack-chasing warrior,” Stewart said at the Combine of his sack production. “I just wanted to become the best player for my team. And sometimes the stats don’t show that. Definitely trying to get more comfortable and get after the quarterback, trying to run through the tackle instead of maybe trying to reach out, lunging for a tackle.
“Staying disciplined is a big thing for defense, at the end of the day, if one person on defense isn’t doing his job, then the whole defense is screwed. Sometimes you just got to play your gap, be your role and somebody else is going to make the play and somebody else is going to shine. And that’s perfectly fine.”
