Shemar Stewart and Demetrius Knight among PFF’s top 10 second-year players under pressure to perform

Posted by Admin July 9, 2026 NFL

All offseason, we’ve heard about how the defense has been revamped and that now it’s time to deliver.

Of course, by “deliver”, most mean that they have to just not be among the worst defenses in the league.

Two of the guys who will have the spotlight on them are 2025 first round and second round Draft picks Shemar Stewart and Demetrius Knight. So much so that Pro Football Focus listed them among the top 10 second-year players under pressure to perform in 2026.

PFF’s Bradley Locker wrote that Stewart “underwhelmed mightily” in the 280 snaps when he was healthy.

“His 41.2 overall PFF grade was the worst among 120 edge rushers to appear on 250 or more snaps, powered by a dismal 29.3 PFF run-defense grade,” Locker wrote. “Even as a pass-rusher, Stewart placed in the 12th percentile in PFF pass-rush grade and in the 16th percentile for pass-rush win rate.”

Meanwhile, Knight, the 49th pick in the 2025 Draft, has raised serious concerns in a short amount of time partly because he will turn 26 years old later this month and was expected to contribute immediately.

“His 40.2 overall PFF grade ranked 56th out of 59 qualified linebackers in 2025, finishing below a 45.5 mark in both run defense and coverage,” Locker wrote. “The South Carolina product also missed 15% of his tackles, tied for 15th-highest in that contingent.”

Clearly, the Bengals need to add a veteran at linebacker. We discussed in our most recent show.