Bengals Player Seeking Redemption After Dexter Lawrence Trade

The Cincinnati Bengals enter the 2026 season with the most talent on the defensive side of the ball this franchise has assembled in years. Cincinnati now boasts a lineup that features Dexter Lawrence leading the interior with Jonathan Allen lining up beside him.

They also have Boye Mafe, who brings championship experience to the edge, with second-round rookie Cashius Howell projected to be a depth piece with legitimate upside. Safeties Bryan Cook and Kyle Dugger round out the top defensive additions and will anchor the secondary. Overall, the unit that gave up the third-most points in the NFL last season looks nothing like it did twelve months ago.

Several players on the Bengals defensive roster are playing for their first impressions in new uniforms, while others are chasing redemption from a 2025 campaign that didn’t go as planned. Among those who will enter the new season with a point to prove is Shemar Stewart. 

The Bengals 2025 first-round pick recorded 11 total tackles, one sack, and one pass defensed across eight games in 2025. His rookie season was also hampered by a contract holdout and a knee injury that cost him nine games.

Stewart started the season hot with an 86.3 PFF overall grade in his first game as a Bengal. But he never got close to that number again, reaching only as high as the 66.2 mark afterwards.

Stewart recently addressed his struggles openly while speaking to reporters during OTAs.

“Last year I would go out there, and I’m saying, ‘I somewhat know what I need to do, but I’m not 100 percent sure,’” Stewart said. “And then I go out there and I overthink. Then I don’t make a play. Then it’s just a whole lot of things because I’m just too up in here” (h/t On SI’s Jay Morrison.

It’s hard to argue against Stewart’s talent and athleticism, but questions about his pass rush production have followed him since he was a draft prospect. 

While the struggles were evident, flashes of what Stewart can become emerged during the final stretch of the season. He recorded back-to-back grades of 66.2 and 65.0 in his final two appearances and gave the organization some hope to at least hold on to. 

However, the Bengals front office has made it clear during the offseason that it is operating on a different timeline and cannot afford to risk waiting on Stewart’s potential to develop. 

The depth chart he walks into in year two is objectively stacked, with Mafe, Myles Murphy and Howell project as the primary edge rushers in Al Golden’s rotation. Considering the talent around Stewart, meaningful playing time will have to be earned week by week. He won’t be handed a role.

To his credit, Stewart isn’t reading his current situation with resentment and has taken it up as a challenge.

“I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I’m so excited to play with these guys,” Stewart said. “We got two monsters added to the room, so I can’t wait to see how this year turns out.”

The most notable areas in Stewart’s game that need improvement are his hand usage against NFL tackles, his ability to convert speed to power when tackles kick his arc wide, and his run-defense discipline on early downs.

Head coach Zac Taylor has maintained confidence in Stewart’s long-term upside throughout, but patience from the coaching staff only stretches so far in a win-now environment.

Lawrence eating double teams beside him this season creates the clearest one-on-one opportunities Stewart has ever had. If he can’t make the most of these, the questions about his ceiling will only get louder.

The Bengals open the 2026 season on Sunday, Sept. 13, hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Paycor Stadium.