The Lions are hosting an edge rusher with unlimited potential.
According to a report from The Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler , the Detroit Lions are expected to host Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart on a “top” 30 visit in Allen Park on Wednesday. Stewart made waves at this year’s NFL Combine after his collective athletic testing landed him a perfect 10.0 RAS (Relative Atheltic Score) .
Tracking which NFL Draft prospects meet with teams can be an inexact science. Teams meet with all prospects on the All-Star circuit, host another 45 formal visits (and unlimited informal visits) at the Combine, host a local pro day, and bring in 30 “top” players to their facilities for additional meetings. While trying to ascertain the difference between formal and informal meetings can cloud reporting, a visit to a team’s facility is fairly straightforward—with the only limitation being that we don’t get a full list of players making their trips.
So while tracking visits may seem like a misuse of time, there are some patterns that can emerge with a larger sample size.
For example, during the first NFL Draft of the Brad Holmes/Dan Campbell era in Detroit, the NFL cut all visits due to COVID-19. But in the following two offseasons, the Lions met with each of their first five draft picks at the NFL Combine. In 2024 there was a pattern shift and they only appeared to meet with one of their first four draft picks at the Combine (Sione Vaki). However, they did host all four prospects on “top” 30 visits to Allen Park.
If the pattern shift holds true, it may be worth paying closer attention to which 2025 NFL Draft prospects come to Detroit, as they may be the players the Lions hope will be available when they’re on the clock. So far, the Lions have reportedly hosted five players in Allen Park—that we know about.
A few of the prospects (Chaz Chambliss, LB, Georgia, and Lan Larison, RB UC-Davis) were not invited to the Combine and may have been brought in for medical testing. But Shemar Stewart (EDGE, Texas A&M), Grey Zabel (IOL, North Dakota State), and Josaiah Stewart (EDGE, Michigan) are prospects expected to be selected in the first two rounds.
Shemar Stewart is likely on the Lions’ radar not just because of his athletic testing, but also because he is stylistically very much an ideal edge prospect to start opposite Aidan Hutchinson. At 6-foot-5, 267 pounds, and with arm length measuring over 34 inches, Stewart is very creative in generating pressure, leaning mostly on his lethal first-step quickness. His sack numbers are lower than ideal, but there is still plenty of room for growth in his game. He enters the NFL with the ability to have a Travon Walker-like impact, but his ceiling could match that of Myles Garrett if he is able to unlock his true potential.
If his college production was better, Stewart would be a surefire top-10 selection. But if he falls on draft day due to general manager being scared off, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Holmes get aggressive and target Stewart—similar to what happened in 2024 with Terrion Arnold.