2013 NFL Draft Analysis: Walter Stewart

[TRAVIS KELCE – GEORGE WINN – WALTER STEWART – SEAN HOOEY]

Walter Stewart has had an outstanding career as a Cincinnati Bearcat. In four years at UC he has recorded 165 tackles, 34.5 TFL, 16.5 sacks, and 8 forced fumbles, including one of the most athletic plays I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. He’s been a staple on UC’s defensive line for the last three seasons and was a leader the rest of his teammates could rally around. As his senior season began, Stewart seemed to have a spot locked in for the NFL Draft.

Then tragedy struck in the form of an abnormality in his spine.

Before the discovery, Stewart was a sure fire 2nd or 3rd round draft pick. As you probably know if you’ve remotely followed the Bearcats over the past couple of years, the guy is just oozing with talent. I mean Stewart only participated in 1/3 of the 2012 season and was still named to the All-Big East 2nd team. He is just that good! But the abnormality made him radioactive to most NFL teams who didn’t want to use a pick on a player with such a questionable future. Some doctors have cleared Stewart to perform NFL prep work but it remains to be seen if a team at the next level will take a flyer on him.

STRENGTHS

Pass Rush
Resume

When Walter Stewart was finally placed on the defensive line permanently his junior year he quickly gained the reputation of being a player who gave quarterbacks nightmares. Not only was he a sizable force to block coming in 6’5″ and around 250 lbs but his long arms nullified the length of offensive tackles on the edge. Blockers still had a size advantage (most do) but they had a difficult time using Stewart’s momentum against him by simply pushing him out of the player. Instead, the UC defensive end was able to shoot right by them and pancake quarterbacks on a regular basis. This lead to the impressive numbers Stewart put up while at Cincinnati which has kept most NFL teams interested in him. In addition, he seemed to post better numbers when the competition level increased. Stewart “turning it on”, if you will, when the games were bigger and the opponents better has to catch the eye of pro scouts.

WEAKNESSES

Injury Risk
Rust

Like I mentioned, the biggest factor affecting Walter Stewart’s draft status is the risk of causing permanent injury. NFL players make a minimum of hundreds of thousands of dollars in their contracts now-a-days. Despite the cash cow that is pro football, NFL teams aren’t going to throw around their cash willy-nilly. They want to see a return on their investment no matter how small. And with the extent to which his spinal abnormality causing further injury a complete unknown, NFL teams might not want to take the chance.

Additionally, Stewart hasn’t played a live game of football in a while. While he’s participated in some workouts he hasn’t strapped on the pads and actually hit someone in over 6 months. That’s a ton of rust to shake off and it might take him a few months into the NFL season to do so.

PROJECTED ROUND(S)/LIKELY TEAM(S)

7th – Undrafted
New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens – basically any team with a 3-4 defense.

Like I mentioned, 6 months ago Walter Stewart was set to be selected on the first or second day of the draft. Now he’ll be lucky to be taken at all. Stewart projects to an outside speed-rusher in the 3-4 defense so most of these teams will be interested in him because of his versatility. It’s unclear if that will occur via the draft or through free agency but I’d bet cash money that Stewart winds up in a pro camp this Fall.

HIGHLIGHTS

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