For the second time in three drafts, the Bengals opted for one of the nation's top pass-rushing prospects in the first round when they took Texas A&M's Shemar Stewart with Thursday night's 17^th pick.

The chiseled 6-5, 267-pound Stewart with a monstrous 40-inch vertical leap and torrid 4.59-second 40-yard dash time, is the long and sudden prototype of the modern edge player. He had a big-time Senior Bowl performance in Mobile, Alabama, and drew high-character grades through the draft process.

The Bengals, who took Clemson's Myles Murphy with the 28^th pick in 2023, didn't think they'd get a chance to draft Stewart because of reports like this from Ourlads Scouting Services:

"He shows an incredible closing burst in pursuit; can also chase down ball carriers from the backside on the line of scrimmage. Playing the interior he's a disrupter penetrating gaps, making backs adjust the path and either making a tackle for a loss or creating opportunity for a teammate."

Stewart had only 4.5 sacks over three seasons and 37 games, but his enormous ceiling is inescapable. His defenders point to Odafe Oweh, a 6-5, 255-pounder the Bengals know well.

Oweh had seven sacks in three years at Penn State. But his 4.39-second 40-yard dash and 11-foot-2 broad jump has translated to 23 sacks during four years with the Ravens, and he's coming off a 10-sack season in Baltimore.

NBC Sports' Chris Simms says Stewart is "one of the safest picks in the draft."

"You're not going to have to worry about him being physically overmatched," Simms said. "The ceiling has a chance to be one of the greatest players in the history of football. That's the talent and physical makeup the guy has."

Stewart, who also played basketball at Monsignor Pace High School in Miami, Fla, joins a Bengals' edge with Murphy, NFL sack champion Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Ossai coming off a career-high five-sack-season.

Although Stewart was dead certain he was going to the Cowboys at No. 12, he knew plenty about the Bengals five picks later.

"I know y'all close every year," said Stewart, speaking over the phone from a holding room at the draft in Green Bay, Wis. "Y'all just need a little, umph. I'm here to give you a little push up across the line, you feel me?"

He also knew all about Hendrickson and said his power game translates to the league because "You've got the sack champion up there and he's all power.

"I'm going to work my tail off. Me and Trey Hendrickson, he's going to be my best buddy because I'm going to be under his tail."

Head coach Zac Taylor said the pick has nothing to do with Hendrickson's trade demand or the state of negotiations with his contract.

"It's not a story about anybody else," Taylor said. "I don't think you can have enough D-linemen in this league, in this division. It doesn't speak to anybody else on our team. It's just adding another weapon to our defense and keeping guys fresh going after the quarterback."

Taylor loves the way Stewart plays and emphasized his "relentlessness." He also called it "play demeanor." It was fitting that the first draft selection in the term of new defensive coordinator Al Golden is a versatile sort Golden calls a "chess piece.' He said they can play Stewart over guards and in space in front of tackles.

Here's a guy who is barely 21 after playing three seasons.

"This is an ascending player," Golden said. "We're in an era where COVID is giving us a lot of fourth-, fifth- even sixth-year players. He's an ascending player we're looking forward to working with."

Golden says if Stewart keeps at it, the production will come and he'll finish those sacks.

"Just play at the same intensity level. Same play style," Golden said. "His teammates and staff will do the rest."

Taylor pointed to how often he saw Stewart around the quarterback and the analytics bear him out. Pro Football Focus had his time to first pressure at 2.43 seconds, best among all FBS players.

Stewart is glad he's a Bengal even though it was a stunner to him.

"I had a great meeting with (Dallas owner) Jerry Jones," Stewart said. "The D-line coach texted me a few days out and said he wanted to get on the phone and talk to my dad. He proceeded to reach out to my dad and tells him how much he loves me. So it was a shock to me."

But a happy one after the dust cleared.

"At the end of the day, it's God's plan," Stewart said. "I'm never going to question God's plan. Whatever he's got for me, he's got for me."