It's now official. Shemar Stewart will be playing for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2025. This was a pick that was sorely needed for the Bengals' defensive pass rush. With Sam Hubbard retiring and Trey Hendrickson's future up in the air, this was no doubt a position that the Bengals have had their eye on.
Stewart had gone viral weeks before the NFL Draft by claiming he was going to wreak havoc on the NFL teams that passed up on him. Stewart's athletic ability leading up to the draft were talked about heavily with NFL executives, but nonetheless, the Bengals are getting a good one.
This also puts Texas A&M in good standing with the NFL Draft, as previous seasons looked to be not too kind to the Aggies.
Aggie football has quietly broken first-round NFL Draft curse
The was a chance for three former Aggies to have their name called in the first-round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but that fell just short with Nic Scourton's name not getting called. With Scourton set to go quickly in the second-round, this still breaks a quiet curse that Texas A&M fans have noticed throughout the years.
Since Myles Garrett went #1 overall in 2017, Texas A&M Football has had 1 player drafted in the 1st Round of the NFL Draft
— Tim England (@tengland_150) April 24, 2025
Looking forward to that ending tonight 👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/pl5T6r168z
The only other first round pick was offensive lineman Kenyon Green, who was picked 15th overall by the Houston Texans in the 2022 NFL Draft. With Green now playing for the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles, he still has a long career ahead of him. Future draft picks like Trey Zuhn, Taurean York, and Will Lee III might find themselves in the first-round of an NFL Draft someday.
While Shemar Stewart may be miles away from Myles Garrett, the high ceiling is there for Stewart to become a game-wrecker. While ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit took a step back from the Stewart hype, his gameplay is still valuable enough to get himself a ton of minutes.