9. New Orleans Saints: Shemar Stewart, EDGE, Texas A&M
Another player who is soaring over the last handful of weeks is Texas A&M super-athlete Shemar Stewart. This is one of those players who absolutely looks the part and was productive on tape without exactly proving it in terms of the box score figures. When you look at Stewart’s numbers at Texas A&M, you’re not going to see a boatload of TFLs or sacks.
But when you flip on the tape? You’re going to see an absolute nightmare whose production in the NFL should be a lot better than the production we saw at the college level.
The New Orleans Saints are a fascinating case this offseason. They are once again in a brutal position with the salary cap. New head coach Kellen Moore was relatively non-committal on quarterback Derek Carr. There could be major changes incoming for this Saints roster and the defensive front helps raise all boats for a reloading team.
10. Chicago Bears: Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
Alright, let’s get a little wild with this selection. The Chicago Bears went out and hired Ben Johnson as their new head coach. Although the Detroit Lions had previously spent a bunch of time building up their offensive line in order to help these guys succeed, we saw the Lions invest heavily in the running back position while Johnson was around as well.
And they might want to bring a bit of that flavor from Detroit to Chicago.
After watching David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs absolutely dominate with the Lions, perhaps Ben Johnson will want to see a combination of D’Andre Swift or Roschon Johnson dominating with Ashton Jeanty, the best running back in all of college football.
If the top offensive linemen are off the board, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. When you look at how drastically running games have impacted some of the best teams in the league over the last handful of years, you’d hardly be able to blame Johnsnon for a move like this.