Shemar Stewart is showing ecstatic Bengals fans why he was worth the wait

Shemar Stewart's drawn-out contract negotiations with the front office of the Cincinnati Bengals could have been avoided if the Bengals had just seen the reasonableness of his demands earlier on, but now that he's signed and suited up, he's already showing up big time in the NFL Preseason.

Though Stewart was unable to join the Bengals for much of camp, being unable to practice with his teammates thanks to the way the NFL CBA works with regard to yet-unsigned players. Now that the elephant in the room is gone, though, Stewart is back in action, and making plays in a big way.

The Bengals took on the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend, and Stewart made his presence felt despite limited snaps. His powerful rush, athleticism, and excellent instincts against the run showed up when the tape was rolled back, showing Cincinnati fans just why he was worth the long, drawn-out wait.

Shemar Stewart excels in first NFL snaps of career, showing why his first-round selection was worth it

Check out a couple of the snaps he played in the clips below from Tony Catalina.

While Shemar didn't register a sack in the game, he did only play 18 snaps. What's more, as a lot of analytics gurus will tell you, pressures are almost more important than sacks.

Think about it: if you have a guy that isn't closing on getting to the quarterback in a lot of his snaps, but he's in the face of the QB every single time, that still makes the offense out of joint and the passer's mind pretty harried. Especially when you consider sack creation can tend to be an artifact of scheme, it's not always fair to look at sack numbers alone when evaluating a defensive lineman.

Luckily for Shemar, pressure creation is what he excels at. With time and experience, he'll no doubt turn that into sacks before too much time.