The Hidden Truth Behind Dylan Stewart
It's 1st and 10 with 7:49 to go in the second quarter, and Old Dominion has the ball facing a 10-7 deficit on the road against South Carolina. The Monarchs gave up 10 points in the opening quarter, but their defense had played well since then, preventing the Gamecocks from extending their lead any further.
Old Dominion had a chance to get back in the game here. Just a field goal would go a long way and keep the Monarchs competitive. Unfortunately, 5-star recruit and true freshman Dylan Stewart stood on the defensive line practically drooling, waiting for a chance to get to the quarterback.
The ball is snapped, and before the quarterback can even finish faking a handoff, Stewart explodes past the poor offensive tackle tasked with stopping an unstoppable force, and he sacks the quarterback. If you blinked while watching this play, you might've missed the greatness that was on full display.
Stewart finished this game with three sacks, according to PFF, and immediately everyone started talking.
"Did you see what that freshman edge rusher for South Carolina did?"
It truly was a special performance.
Stewart finished the 2024 season with seven sacks and 18 stops. He wasn't perfect, but the flashes were so impressive that everyone agreed this guy was poised to be a top pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, even though it was still two years away.
But what if I told you there are some hidden red flags in Dylan Stewart's profile? Although his best plays are wildly impressive, his production from the last two seasons simply doesn't match up with his incredible reputation.
Today, we'll explore just how good Dylan Stewart is as a prospect and see if his high-end flashes are enough to overlook some of the flaws in his production.
Elite Pass-Rushing Upside
Dylan Stewart is considered to be an elite prospect largely because he is viewed as an outstanding pass rusher. Stewart has the prototypical physical tools that you expect from the best edge rusher prospects. He's 6'5 250 lbs., and has amazing burst, flexibility, and raw strength. He puts these physical gifts to good use in the passing game, overwhelming opposing tackles who don't have the size or movement skills to keep up with him.
Here's the sack I mentioned previously from the Old Dominion game in 2024. This is a great example of Stewart's burst and bend as a pass rusher. Right after the snap, the right tackle tries to put his hands on Stewart's chest, but this was a futile effort as Stewart simply dipped his shoulders, making himself perpendicular to the ground. At this point, the tackle was toast, and Stewart moved past him with ease to sack the quarterback.
Even though he was facing a lower level of competition here, the physical tools were apparent the second Stewart set foot on the football field.
Stewart doesn't just win with speed, though. He also utilizes his hands and his flexibility to win reps. On this play against Virginia Tech, Stewart begins his pass rush by putting his hand on the tackle's right shoulder and nudging him to the right. Once he does this, he dips his shoulder, gets past the tackle, and finds the quarterback for a sack.
Since Stewart is so mobile, he is extremely dangerous on stunts. We saw South Carolina use him this way on this play against Kentucky last season.
Stewart started this play on the right side of the offensive line. At the snap, the Gamecocks' defensive tackles steered their pass rush paths to the right while Stewart went behind them and shot the gap in the middle of the offensive line. He sacked the quarterback, forced a fumble in the process, and South Carolina picked up the ball and scored a touchdown for the scoop and score.
Against Vanderbilt, Stewart showed that he can win going inside as well as going outside on his pass rush paths. On this play, Stewart began the rep by going to his left, forcing the right tackle to slide in that direction. Stewart quickly redirected his path inside, and he got level with the tackle. Vanderbilt's running back tried to offer some support as a blocker, but it was no use. Stewart forced Diego Pavia to get off his spot, and this led to an incomplete pass.
Stewart's pass-rushing production took a step back in 2025, but it was pretty extraordinary in 2024 when he was a freshman. That year, he had 51 total pressures and a pass rush win rate of 16.6%. As a 19-year-old, he was already the best pass rusher for an SEC program, a feat that is hard to wrap my mind around.
Run Defense Matters Too!
Dylan Stewart's pass-rushing ability is excellent and the biggest reason why he's viewed as such an incredible prospect. However, he also shows some incredible flashes as a run stopper. He also graded as a much stronger run defender in 2025 compared to 2024 according to PFF. This gives him truly absurd upside that makes the incredible hype he's receiving seem completely justified.
At the beginning of this play vs. Vanderbilt, Stewart makes it look like he's going toward the tackle's outside shoulder, but then he cuts inside, which the tackle was not expecting. He's able to get inside the tackle, and even though Pavia keeps the ball and runs with it, Stewart is able to blow up the play even though a hole was created on the left side of the offensive line.
On this play against LSU, Stewart does a good job of using his hands to swipe the offensive lineman out of the way. Unfortunately, he loses his balance and falls to the ground. This doesn't stop him from making a play, though, and he hits the running back while on his knees for a TFL.
Here, Stewart does a great job of using his flexibility to impact the run game. LSU pulls two offensive linemen to the right, and Stewart sees this, so he dips his shoulder and completely avoids being blocked. He then tackles the running back for a loss of yards.
Through two seasons, Stewart has totaled 22.5 tackles for loss, and he's been top two on South Carolina in the metrics in each of the last two seasons. He actually led the team in TFLs in 2025.
If Stewart puts it all together at the next level, he has a chance to be quite good in the NFL. He flashes some unreal traits as a pass rusher and run defender that could allow him to become a decorated player down the road.
The Hidden Truth
Although Dylan Stewart's best tape is phenomenal, I have some questions regarding the totality of his statistical profile.
Stewart has gotten a ton of usage early in his college career, which is impressive on its own. This has allowed him to put up impressive counting stats like pressures, sacks, tackles for loss, etc.
But there are two problems with his production profile. He took a big step back in 2025 after a fantastic freshman season, and his efficiency on a per-snap basis is not very good.
After putting up 51 pressures in 2024, Stewart recorded just 37 pressures in 2025. His pass rush win rate also fell from 16.6% in 2024 to 13.1% in 2025. This past season, he ranked just 67th among Power-Four edge rushers in this metric. Even his run defense production was underwhelming in 2025 as he had a stop rate of just 6.5%, a mark that ranked 105th in the Power-Four.
And let's go back to Stewart's volume. I researched how many underclassmen SEC defenders have recorded 20+ TFLs and 10+ SKs through their sophomore seasons and found that 14 players fit this query, including Stewart.
This is an incredible list of names, and it's great that Stewart has been productive enough to be listed among all these talented players. However, I can't help but notice that his TFLs and SKs aren't nearly at the level of some all-time great SEC defenders like Myles Garrett, Will Anderson Jr., and Jadeveon Clowney.
This leads me to wonder if Dylan Stewart's ceiling is lower than everyone realizes. The film is awesome, but production matters too when evaluating college prospects. Dylan Stewart could easily explode for an otherworldly junior season and cement himself as the best prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft and one of the best edge rusher prospects in recent memory.
For now, I'll continue to be cautiously optimistic about his profile, but trust me when I say that I will change my tune if Stewart takes that next step and blossoms into the dominant edge rusher I think he can be. The upside is there; I just want to see a little bit more from him.
Comments