New Bengals defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, who is now coaching the newest Bengal in first-round pick Shemar Stewart, the Texas A&M edge, is counting.
The NFL Draft's first round is droning into the 20s in the background in Montgomery's office Thursday night, and he's counting, "Nine, six, five, four three," and for a minute it sounds like he's keeping track of the defensive linemen still flying off the board at a stunning pace.
But he's not. He's naming the techniques Stewart can play across the front.
"He can rush inside. He can rush outside," Montgomery says. "Turn on the film, and a lot of people have unbelievable traits. And you say, 'Wow.' But you turn on the tape and you say the film doesn't match. But this kid, his film matches."
What Montgomery says matches that film is the 6-5, 267-pound Stewart's hellacious and historic Relative Athletic Score, which soars like his 40-inch vertical well into the nines, the highest by more than 2,000 defensive linemen in the last 38 years.
That RAS is one of the reasons the Bengals' draft room didn't buckle at the end of a relentless run on offensive and defensive linemen that began at No. 9 when the Saints took Texas tackle Kelvin Banks Jr.
At 11, the 49ers grabbed Georgia edge Mykel Williams. Alabama guard Tyler Booker went to Dallas at 12. The Dolphins swiped Michigan nose tackle Kenneth Grant at 13 in the blizzard. Still, when the Falcons went for the light defensive hybrid from Georgia, Jalon Walker, at No. 15, a player the Bengals were never linked to in the mocks, it looked good to grab a player at No. 17 that many publications had linked them to.
Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen, a quick three-technique who played the position they hadn't drafted in the first round since they took Dan Wilkinson No. 1 overall 31 years ago.
But then, Nolen was gone, too. Arizona at 16, and now the Bengals were up with a trade down impossible because the lines had been so picked over. If they slid out, there just didn't seem to be enough linemen left to survive a lower pick.
At this point, Stewart appeared to be the last top-flight D-lineman worthy of No. 17 and he wouldn't last long with that RAS. The Bengals came in thinking it was 50-50 Stewart would be there. Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon went to the Steelers at No. 21, but he never seemed to be linked all that often to the Bengals. And in this draft, the pundits say the quality D-Tackles don't end with the first round.
"Whether its edge, defensive line, or linebacker, we're trying to get better at a lot of different spots," said new defensive coordinator Al Golden. "However it falls, then that's how it's falls. But we weren't going to pass up Shemar at 17 or move back because he may not be there. We were right there in terms of where our picks were and what we wanted and fit that role."
Stewart was on the Bengals' list, especially after his 18-minute interview with the staff at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis two months ago. He may not have remembered, but the Bengals came out of it raving about him. Smart, they thought, something the A&M head coach confirmed to Golden four days ago. Intensity. Laser approach.
"We're excited about his athleticism, about his toughness, about his play style," Golden said. "If he converts a couple more sacks and they're not just quarterback hits or hurries, we're not having this discussion right now because he's making plays out of his realm a lot of times, too. He's making a lot of plays on the perimeter and plays downfield because he has the skills to do that."
It's what they had been telling the Bengals scout in charge of A&M, Christian Sarkisian, for two years.
Montgomery had been particularly impressed with his passion in Indy.
"At the combine, he was great. No issues," Montgomery said.
He shakes his head about the concern about the stats. In three years in College Station, Stewart had 4.5 sacks.
"If he had eight sacks this year, he would have been a top-five pick,' Montgomery said.
Montgomery has seen this movie before. Heck, he co-starred in it at one point during his nine-year run in Green Bay. In 2019, the Packers with the 12th pick took Rashan Gary, a 6-5, 277-pounder who had 10.5 sacks in three seasons at Michigan. In six seasons with the Packers, he has 39 sacks that include a nine-sack season and a 9.5-sack season under Montgomery.
"Same thing," Montgomery said. "Didn't have all the production. Get him in the NFL, teach him how to rush, teach him how to finish.
"Because (Stewart) doesn't (have the sacks), he slides. I'm excited to work with the kid. He plays out of his mind. With his hair on fire … His violence, his physicality, his effort to the ball. He's always around the quarterback. Now we just have to get him to finish on the quarterback."
The PFF analytics back them up. His 39 pressures led Texas A&M last year. His time to first pressure in 2024 of 2.43 seconds led all FBS players. The team that has lost on the edge Sam Hubbard, who goes into retirement with the most tackles by an end since 2018, may get a lift from a guy who plays the run like a beast. His 88.2 PFF run-defense grade in 2024 is fifth among all edge defenders in the FBS.
As far as Montgomery and Golden are concerned, Stewart may not have SEC stats. But his game fits the AFC North.
"He can set the edge in this division, which is really important," Golden says. "It's going to be hard to get knocked off the ball by tackles or tight ends. Obviously, he's a guy that makes plays on the second level and on the perimeter."
