Broncos Mocked Texas A&M Pass Rusher Shemar Stewart at No. 20 by Yahoo

We're still over two months out from the NFL draft, and a high number of prospects are becoming a tad monotonous and stale for the Denver Broncos at pick 20. Sure, the Broncos could very well walk away with Michigan tight end Colston Loveland, and it would be a dream to have Penn State tight end Tyler Warren or Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty slide to 20, but mock drafts are supposed to be about different possibilities, hypotheticals, and directions a team might go.

This becomes increasingly true the further a team picks from No. 1 overall and if it has the quarterback position shored up as the Broncos do.

Thanks to Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice and Charles McDonald, Broncos Country has a different direction altogether to chew on at this relatively early stage of the offseason. With the 20th overall selection, McDonald (picking for the even selections in this combined mock) picked Texas A&M defensive lineman Shemar Stewart to land in the Mile High City.

"The Broncos’ defense is close to being the elite, all-round unit they wanted to be in 2024, but they just need some more help along the defensive line. Stewart has upside through the roof, but is still a little rough around the edges," McDonald wrote.

On paper, the edge rusher position is perhaps the singularly deepest on the Broncos roster. Sitting four-deep with the in-season re-signing of Jonathon Cooper and All-Pro Nik Bonitto as the team’s first wave, with Jonah Elliss coming off a promising rookie season and undrafted free agent and USFL standout Dondrea Tillman flashing in reserve reps, the edge position, at first glance, doesn’t appear to be a roster spot with many available reps.

All the same, there is truly no such thing as having enough pass rushers, and as the Philadelphia Eagles proved this season (as well as their great run the past three seasons), investing first-round picks continuously in your pass rush is hardly ever a bad strategy, especially if it equates to harassing Patrick Mahomes the same way he has been physically beaten in both of the Super Bowl losses in his career.

Stewart is a very unique player. Measuring in at 6-foot-5 and 281 pounds, Stewart is a first-off-the-bus player and was a consensus five-star recruit coming out of high school. An obvious athletic freak in terms of his height/weight/speed combination, his traits never truly materialized into a player that filled the stat sheet. Despite the tantalizing physical gifts, Stewart only amassed 4.5 sacks in his collegiate career.

As the size and athleticism would indicate, Stewart packs a punch at the point of attack and is an elite edge-setter for the position. He converts speed to power easily and utilizes his length to his advantage.

Stewart also shows a relentless motor in chasing down ball-carriers, both in the run and pass game. Similar to Jadaveon Clowney, it appears Stewart often relies on his athleticism as opposed to technique to win reps and can arrive in the backfield out of control as a pass rusher.

What Stewart would provide for the Broncos is an athletic freak with the versatility to play from multiple alignments on the defensive front. If Denver wants to combat opposing rushing offenses and get bigger and longer across the front, Stewart could sub in for Bonitto.

Stewart also has the ability to reduce inside and rush from a 4i alignment similar to John Franklin-Myers or Zach Allen. He doesn’t currently play with the leverage or anchor to hold up vs. doubles against the run, but he’s so explosive up the field that he can attack gaps as Vance Joseph has liked to do in his NFL-leading blitz rate defense.

Broncos Country is understandably clamoring for offensive weaponry in the first round of the 2025 draft. However, adding a freaking defensive lineman to rotate and develop with Stewart’s potential is undoubtedly intriguing.

If the Broncos organization trusts its defensive coaches to continue to grow and develop Stewart, he has the potential to be one of the most devastating defensive players in this class. Given his production profile, though, he inherently comes with risk.

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