The Cincinnati Bengals and Shemar Stewart took a long time to get his contract signed after he was their first-round pick in April's NFL Draft.
It's a good thing they got the signature on the dotted line, though, because they certainly need him.
Trey Hendrickson doesn't appear closer to getting his desired contract extension done with the Bengals, and without him, Cincy's defense is lacking some serious bite.
It'll be up to Stewart to try and fill that gap as much as he can.
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In Thursday night's preseason debut for Stewart, he showed the potential to be that kind of player.
"Defensive end Shemar Stewart took a while to get onto the field because of contractual issues, but the first-round pick out of Texas A&M has been as advertised," wrote ESPN's Ben Baby. "He was disruptive on a couple of his 18 defensive snaps against the Eagles. He had a 3-yard tackle for loss on a run play. Then on a play-action bootleg, Stewart did a good job pursuing Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee and nearly forcing an interception."
It's good to see on-field productivity from Stewart.
He was a divisive NFL Draft prospect. His testing and athleticism numbers were all fantastic.
But at Texas A&M, he played three seasons, and in each one, he recorded just 1.5 sacks.
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It's one of the most extreme cases of production vs. traits in recent NFL Draft history. Stewart is setting out to prove that his talent will win out here.
The Bengals sure hope so. If Hendrickson stays on the sideline, it'll be up to Stewart to grow up quickly and become a top-notch pass rusher. Because if he doesn't, hopes of a trip to a Super Bowl might be overly ambitious.
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