NFL Draft
11/29/24
6 min read
2025 NFL Draft: Shemar Stewart Is NFL's Next Jadeveon Clowney
Those who have been following the NFL Draft space for the past decade are sure to remember the experience of Jadeveon Clowney’s entrance into the league.
Clowney, the former prized 5-star recruit who blew up the 2014 NFL Combine at 266 pounds, became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. Clowney’s pro career took a bit to get started — in part because of injuries but also in part due to his need for development, particularly rushing the passer.
Clowney would develop into a quality starter in the league; his alignment versatility and run-defending prowess put him annually in a position to contribute on all three downs. He’s proven that not just with his early career play in Houston but also in stops in Seattle, Tennessee, Cleveland, Baltimore, and to a lesser degree this year in Carolina during his age 31 season.
This year in Carolina appears to suggest the inevitable — Father Time is looming for Clowney, who turns 32 years old in February. And yet there he was this past Sunday, putting the heat on Patrick Mahomes, looking plenty disruptive despite playing into the later chapters of his NFL career.
The good news?
The NFL Draft pipeline may well have the “next” version of this model of player coming through the pipeline in 2025. Meet Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Shemar Stewart.
pure dominance from Shemar Stewart to set the edge pic.twitter.com/PJi1nTgE6y
— Efram Geller (@Mr1rrelevant) November 25, 2024
Stewart vs. Clowney
Stewart is enjoying a breakout season for the Aggies in 2024, finally starting to live up to his potential as a prized 5-star recruit.
Stewart came to the Aggies by way of the South Florida prep football hotbed. He played at Monsignor Pace HS in Miami Gardens and was rated as the No. 1 recruit in the state of Florida. He considered the University of Miami but, at the encouragement of his family, left some of the distractions of South Florida behind to play at Texas A&M.
He’s not an exact one-for-one model of Clowney, but I see so many similarities to their profiles as players and potential roles at the NFL level. Stewart is bigger — somewhere between 20-25 pounds heavier than Clowney was coming through the NFL Combine. He’s on the Texas A&M roster this season at 290 pounds.
The tradeoff is exactly what you would expect, as Stewart is explosive but not to the degree that Clowney was with his ability to blow up Michigan running backs at the mesh point while at South Carolina.
Although to be fair, Stewart’s got his fair share of fun “how’d he get there?” reps on film, too.
Shemar Stewart is "Enormous Rashan Gary" pic.twitter.com/zCaIN14c8U
— Tyler Brooke (@TylerDBrooke) November 16, 2024
Start with the frame. Stewart, like Clowney, offers a high-cut, angular frame with ample length. Clowney came through the draft with an 83-inch wingspan and 34.5-inch arms. Stewart, as a recruit, measured in with an 83.5” wingspan, according to Tom Luginbill back in 2022.
When you revisit the Clowney scouting report, you’ll find a number of footnotes that are applicable to Shemar Stewart and his game, too. Elements of both players’ games when contrasting Shemar Stewart today to Jadeveon Clowney’s pre-draft reports:
- Linear explosiveness but with some hip rigidness that limits bend around the arc
- Supreme length and explosive hands when properly fired
- Room for growth in pass rush variety and crafting of rush plan
- Massive tackle radius and gravitational pull along the line of scrimmage to influence plays
- Alignment versatility to play from a stand-up rush position or reduced down overtop of offensive tackles
- Production does not consistently align with potential due to need for technical developments
- Dynamic range to make plays off the backside or at the mesh point
- Angular frame can create some lapses in pad level
This mix of strengths, along with points of emphasis to improve, creates enough overlap between the two players despite Stewart’s supersized size profile that I simply cannot unsee.
Stewart Deserves More Hype
So why aren’t we talking more about Stewart?
The production profile is likely a big reason for this. Clowney posted 21 sacks and 36 tackles for loss in his first two seasons at South Carolina before fighting bone spurs throughout a quiet 2013 season ahead of making the leap to the NFL.
Stewart doesn’t sniff those numbers and has been slower in developing as a talent. But he’s also somewhat overshadowed by teammate Nic Scourton, another alignment diverse talent who transferred in from Purdue ahead of the 2024 season. Scourton had 10 sacks and 12 tackles for loss at Purdue in 2023 and entered the season as a consensus first-round prospect by draft media.
I think I prefer Stewart.
Scourton, according to TruMedia, has 33 pressures and a 12 percent pressure rate on 276 pass rush reps through Week 12 of the college season. Stewart is credited with 30 pressures and an 11.3 percent pressure rate on 265 pass rush reps during the same period of time. And Stewart has a better pressure rate on third downs by a full percent.
Perhaps the “supersized Clowney” comparison is the reason why I’m finding myself gravitating more and more to Stewart in this 2025 NFL Draft class — assuming he finds the opportunities to play similar roles for an NFL defense that Clowney has gotten through the years.
Stewart will surpass 1,200 career defensive snaps in three seasons after his final regular season game with the Aggies and has logged only a handful of career sacks, so the production profile does not match that of a No. 1 overall pick in the same way Clowney had when he left South Carolina.
Scouting isn't all about projection. There’s undoubtedly value in the instincts that allow a player to be a finisher and collect production.
Stewart isn’t quite there yet, in part because, as a heavier player, he does not have the elite first step that Clowney leaned on so heavily throughout the course of his college career to overtake college tackles.
Still, the greater quest is to identify future roles and fits for talents that unlock the best a player has to offer. Stewart’s best days are still ahead of him. Yet, you see some dominance at the point of attack and some splendid pass rush effort — just without the consistent precision that will put him into position to finish his opportunities at the passer.
Shemar Stewart😵💫😵 pic.twitter.com/ApRi9utnfM
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) December 28, 2023
And, to be fair to Stewart, he’s had a bunch of production slip through his fingers this season. Immediate pressure but a failure to come to balance at first contact and being juked out of a tackle for loss or sack are all too often seen on film.
It’s a little thing, but the little things add up across a full draft resume and can create different attitudes towards players. These same little things bridge the gap between a top-of-the-draft stalwart with elite tools and a gifted “underachiever” or developmental talent.
Clowney was the former. Stewart is currently the latter. I think they’re both closer to being one in the same.
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