Previously: Last year’s profiles, K Adam Samaha, K James Turner (Tr), S Brandyn Hillman, CB DJ Waller, CB Cameron Calhoun, CB Jyaire Hill, HSP/LB Jason Hewlett, LB Hayden Moore, LB Semaj Bridgeman, LB Ernest Hausmann (Tr), OLB Breeon Ishmail, DE Aymeric Koumba, DE Enow Etta.

Coastal Carolina transfer (HS: Everett, MA) – 6'1"/237
		247: 6'2/235                     4.14*	AS TRANSFER: 4*, 91 #3 EDGE, #70 portal
		On3: 6'2/235                     4.15*	AS TRANSFER: 4*, 91 #7 EDGE, #67 portal
		Rivals: 6'2/220                     4.16*	AS TRANSFER: 4*, 5.8 #7 LB, #62 portal
		Transfer Avg                     4.15*	4*, #294/788 since '90 #40/85 EDGEs
		HS Composite        3.67* / 3.45*	3*, #748/#935 overall #43/#90 DE, #5/#4 MA
		HS Avg:    3.49*	3*, #695 ovr, #78 EDGE
		YMRMFSPA	Mike Danna
Other Suitors	USC, LSU
Previously On MGoBlog	Portal In by Brian
Notes	HS teammates with Sainristil at Everett.
Film:
Every snap vs Troy (Stewart is #0) 2021 highlights: Reminds me of how 2018 NWern ended. Team hype man.

Since Michigan's defense went full Ravens they've loved almost nothing so much as size in their Edge prospects. I say "almost" because evidently when a guy gets 16 sacks and 81 pressures in his first two years in college, the measuring tape can go back in the drawer. Josaiah Stewart is two things, without question: an extremely productive pass-rusher versus mid-major competition, and extremely small for a Big Ten defensive end. How much one affects the other is impossible to tell.

The other popular knock on Stewart was he produced only 3.5 of those sacks as a sophomore, after which the same people who overrate sacks enough to name a true freshman their conference defensive player of the year began to underrate the same guy. If you watch the first embedded video above however, the dip in one of the more randomized counting stats starts to make a lot more sense. Coastal Carolina switched to a Stunt 4-3 defense designed to have the guy in Stewart's role loop inside and occupy multiple pass-blockers. The reigning DPoY of the Sun Belt also had his entire league working on gameplans designed to prevent him from doing worse. Pro Football Focus is on firm ground grading the high-volume pass/fail nature of pass-rushers, and gave him an 87.5 (excellent) and 83.3 (very good) for his freshman and sophomore efforts.

It would be nice if we could see it against a higher caliber of pass protector but if Stewart was doing that to NFL-caliber competition already he'd be in the top five of everyone's draft board. Unfortunately the lone Power 5 game on the Chanticleers' schedule last year was canceled due to the Virginia campus shooting. Stewart needed a higher level of opponent, a role that better emphasized his skills, and teammates who could take enough focus off of him to leave some for the pro scouts. Michigan needed a guy who will do better than stalemates on pass-rushing opportunities. Former Everett teammate Mike Sainristil vouched for his character, and USC fans seemed really upset to be left at the altar.

The big knock on him is he would look pretty small if he stood in a drill line at the combine, and is eye-level with the top of the 8 when standing behind 6'5"/275 Derrick Moore. I'm not saying after a year of getting no rush from Harrell, Upshaw, and Okie someone told their deity they'd trade the tallest man on campus for the shortest credible edge threat in the country. Not even the guy who had to chart that would do such a thing. Right?

[After THE JUMP: Aagggyylllbaaaahaaadaaaa *saw noises*.]

---------------------

Largest Bite Force Relative to Body Size in the Animal Kingdom

If you've learned something about Stewart since he came into our orbit it's the evocative nickname he shared on an episode of In the Trenches.

“I remember reading an article my freshman year, and they were describing me as like a Tasmanian devil coming off the edge. Probably like a taz, somebody crazy off the edge, wreaking havoc off the edge. Causing mayhem.”

After a sack, two TFLs, four hurries, and five tackles, Anthony Broome chose Stewart as his player of the Spring Game, with "his motor and freakish athleticism" on display. Stewart's method appears to be charging at backfield with a bestial snarl, though the rip move was his signature trick, he told Jon Jansen. Multiple teammates at Coastal Carolina used the words "Unreal" and "Beast." Braiden McGregor had the same reaction.

“Every single snap, he’s aggressive. He’s trying to put everybody on their butt, set the tackles down. He gets to the quarterback—he’s there a lot.”

Balas was hearing he's extremely quick off the ball and already opening eyes," while Zach Shaw of 247 noted "good quickness off the line, and experience with counter moves and fighting through and around a variety of blocking schemes."

Brian Dohn analyzed him in February 2020 (four weeks before the pandemic began) and thought he saw a future NFL player.

Elite burst and speed off the edge. Changes direction well. Excellent body control. Shows flexibility to dip shoulder and turn corner. Disruptive edge rusher. Uses hands well. Re-directs down line of scrimmage. Has varied move set and polished swim move. Plays with power and suddenness. Has athleticism to drop into coverage.

The comp he made was to Benson Mayowa, a smallish, underrecruited edge who plays like the quarterback is carrying the antidote for his poisoned child. However Mayowa is 6'3".

Will it Translate?

Mock drafts have him hovering around 156th (5th round) next year but oddly the site with a scouting report up underrates the one skill while focusing on others. Draft Buzz has a list of strengths that mostly have to do with coverage upside—agility, closing speed, etc., while knocking his ability to get to the quarterback when the focus is on him.

• As a pass rusher, Stewart needs the scheme to create deception and confusion to give him a free run.

Ouch. This is the opposite of their stats-based ratings for him.

PFF's grade of 83 as a pass-rusher in 2022 was 38th among FBS edges last year; for reference Mike Morris (87) was 25th, Bama's Will Anderson (86) was 27th, and OSU's Zach Harrison (85) 28th. Anything in the 80s is good, but you as might have guessed the competition level and role make a difference. In that context, the fact that Stewart's Coastal Carolina teammate Adrian Hope (90.8) was 9th suggests Stewart was getting the Will Anderson treatment, albeit from Sun Belt-caliber tackles.

PFF came in higher overall, if lower as a pass-rusher.

Other than that he started dropping into coverage more, I think it's notable that Stewart had almost the same number of pressures both years, but was credited for more opportunities in addition to dropping 10 percent of the time. They don't break that out between edge and inside, but it matters because interior rushes get counted as rushes while setting the edge or hanging back to prevent scrambles do not. He still half of those battles, which is insane. Here's a table of Stewart versus Michigan's recent edges on the higher difficulty setting:

Player	Year	Pressures	Rushes	Pressure%
Josaiah Stewart	2021	41	64	64%
Josaiah Stewart	2022	40	80	50%
Aidan Hutchinson	2021	74	164	45%
Kwity Paye	2020	22	49	45%
Mike Morris	2022	37	91	41%
Aidan Hutchinson	2020	7	23	30%
David Ojabo	2021	43	142	30%
Derrick Moore	2022	14	47	30%
Jaylen Harrell	2022	25	85	29%
Eyabi Okie	2022	24	97	25%
Braiden McGregor	2022	12	49	24%
Taylor Upshaw	2022	20	90	22%
Carlo Kemp	2020	11	51	22%

I have no idea what the Sun Belt conversion should be for the above, but if you look at the edges who up-transferred last year it's maybe 90%?

• Ochaun Mathis went from 73 and 69 pass rush grades his last two years at TCU to a 78 at Nebraska.
• Jared Verse went from an 84 at *Albany* to an 87 at FSU.
• Jared Ivey was a 72 both years at Georgia Tech and a 74 last year at Ole Miss.
• Kameron Butler was a 77 his last two years at Miami (no not THAT Miami) and a 69 at Virginia.
• Lonnie Phelps was a 91 for Miami (NNTM) and 83 for Kansas.
• The Murphy twins were a 90 and 91 at North Texas and an 87 and 82 for UCLA, respectively.
• Okie had a 67 grade at Tennessee-Martin and a 76 grade for Michigan.
• Antonio Moultrie was a 67 and 64 at UAB and a 73 at Miami (yes THAT Miami).

There's also Marcus Cushnie, who had a 90 grade in 2020 for Alabama A&M, barely got on the field for FSU (64 grade on 41 rushes) in 2020 and then transferred again and was an effective pass-rusher (82) for Don Brown at UMass last year. Cushnie is smaller but so are some of those other guys. What I don't see is a hard and fast rule that pass-rushing that works against Group of Five competition doesn't translate to Power 5. It probably matters against teams with elite tackles, but Michigan doesn't see one of those until Penn State.

As You Read This Remember Brian is also 6'2"/230

Stewart's size was probably the thing that was keeping the teams like Michigan from coming too hard. Says he, "I was undersized, underrecruited, whatever the case may be. I’m always hungry. That never changes.” Dohn's bit above begins with "Slight concerns about frame but has length," and mentions it again in his conclusion.

Has to add upper body strength. Does not have elite size. Must improve at point of attack in run game. Multi-year starter at Top 20 program. Day 3 NFL draft potential.

Two years of ripping down Sun Belt quarterbacks hasn't changed that. Draft Buzz warns that "Stewart doesn’t have much room on his frame to add weight, and he lacks the upper-body strength to be a stack-and-shed linebacker." Zach Shaw called his 6'1"/237 measurements "extremely small for an edge rusher" and put Stewart all the way down at the #20 spot when assessing this Michigan team's draft prospects, because you guessed it.

Working against him: At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, Stewart would have been the smallest edge rusher taken in the 2023 draft. 6-foot-2 isn’t a dealbreaker, as prospects like Nolan Smith, BJ Ojulari and Derick Hall measured in at 6-foot-2 this draft cycle, but 230 pounds is less than anyone, and could limit Stewart’s production against Big Ten offensive linemen this fall.

Coastal Carolina had Tarron Jackson, a 6'2"/254 edge now on the Eagles, the year before Stewart arrived, but when the true freshman started breaking the Jackson records his coach made it more about Stewart's personality than comparable talent.

They’re built different a little bit but [Stewart] has the mindset and a motor of he just wants to go out and play hard and he doesn’t quit. … I’ve never seen him not smiling … [I’ve] never seen him not have a day where he’s just not excited being out here.

A new round of "gee he's small" came out of spring practice as various insiders and their sources saw Stewart lining up for drills with McGregor (6'6"), Derrick Moore (6'4"), Kechaun Bennett (6'4"), Chibi Anwunah (6'5"), Jaylen Harrell (6'4") and Tyler McLaurin (6'4). Anthony Broome called Stewart "a bit undersized compared to his peers."  Chris Balas began a hype article with,

Josaiah Stewart almost looks wiry from a distance in a Michigan uniform, to the point that he could be mistaken for a hybrid linebacker/safety when he lines up on the edge.

This comes up even when his teammates are trying to do the hyping him:

“He’s a freak,” teammate Braiden McGregor said. “He might not be as big as Aidan or Mike or whatever, but he's a freak.

And his coaches too. Jesse Minter was spinning it as pitch variety.

In a baseball term, he's our changeup in the sense of he's 6-foot, maybe 6-foot-1, not as big and long as our other guys, but he has a different skillset as a rusher. So when a tackle has to block Braiden one play, Derrick the next play, Jaylen the next play, and then all of a sudden you throw Josaiah at them, there's a good versatility there amongst those four guys.

Stewart talked about his size as an advantage on In the Trenches, in the context of his pass-rush approach.

I feel like my speed and my natural leverage I have at my size … some edges, it may be harder to bend at different sizes. It may be harder to get under certain tackles. But just with my natural leverage I find it easier to bend around edges and get under tackles … Definitely like to go speed-to-power, keep the tackles on their toes. I really define myself as a speed rusher. But don’t shy away from my power too much, because it’s there. Some people might go ‘oh he’s small, he don’t got power,’ but I got it, definitely some speed moves.”

And while this doesn't change his length or height, most recently Minter reported that Ben Herbert already had Stewart up to 245 pounds.

Can He Stop the Run?

The issue on rushes versus Jaylen Harrell last year wasn't whether he'd get in position or throw his body at it—he was and he did—but that he was much smaller than the pulling linemen or kicking tight ends he was facing, and the result of physics was a bonk. For Stewart, against the 290-ish guys he faced in the Sun Belt there wasn't a lot of bonk. Versus Amir Herring in the Spring Game there wasn't any bonk either. These are not good examples, but it's what we have so far.

Minter says "he plays the way you want guys to play—really, really physical." NFL Draft Buzz was one to note he plays bigger than 235, "with the functional strength and motor to take on and hold ground against much bigger blockers." Stewart said everything right on In the Trenches.

… I feel like I’m a guy that can do different things as a pass rusher. I take pride in stopping the run. I can pass rush *because* I stop the run. There are steps to it. The run game I provide good impact, and obviously in the pass game.

What's His Story?

Josaiah Stewart was born in Bronx, NY, on April 26, 2003, and yes I'm actually going somewhere with this because that means the true junior is not much older than the freshmen he's coming in with. Aymeric Koumba was born that May. Will Johnson in March.

A high school teammate of Mike Sainristil in Everett, Massachusetts, Stewart committed to Steve Addazio's Boston College in November 2019, a few days after TJ Guy did the same. Don Brown came in with a Michigan offer in January 2020, and managed to flip Guy a few weeks later, but Stewart was giving Jeff Hafley's staff a chance. They weren't that interested, however, and Stewart decommited in April 2020.

Here are his 2021 recruiting rankings:

RATINGS BY SITE
247: 6'2/235	On3: 6'2/235	Rivals: 6'1/230	ESPN: 6'2/235
3*, 88, NR Ovr #34 DE, #4 MA	did not exist	3*, 5.5, NR Ovr #NR SDE, #9 MA	3*, 76, #101 East #93 DE, #7 MA
3.71	n/a	3.24	3.44
COMPOSITE RANKINGS
247 Composite	On3 Consensus	MGoBlog
3*, 0.8667, #748 Ovr #43 DE, #5 MA	3*, 84.47, #935 Ovr #90 DE, #4 MA	3*, #695/788 Ovr #78/85 Edges since 1990
3.67	3.45	3.49

With BC out and visits turned off for the pandemic, Stewart joined a teammate who was already at Coastal Carolina. CC was having a lot of success, especially at edge, with 2021 draft pick Tarron Jackson having just left as the program's all-time sack leader. Stewart instantly repeated Jackson's success, breaking out for 3.5 sacks—a school record—and 7 pressures against Kansas in Week 2. By the end of his true freshman season he'd amassed 39 pressures, 12.5 sacks, 15.5 TFLs, three forced fumbles. He was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, and a freshman All-American to PFF.

Going into 2022, understandably, the stock was high. Will Backus of 247 ranked preseason pass-rushers and put Stewart 5th, one spot ahead of Dallas Turner, the 5-star edge Michigan was trying to pull out of Aquinas with teammates Ja'Den McBurrows and Jaydon Hood. Backus also detailed a position shift.

Stewart’s move from a pure defensive end to the bandit position may not be a massive transition personally, but it does mean that he will be put in slightly less pure pass rush situations.

The bandit was the same as the Jack, a hybrid OLB role in the Stunt 4-3 system that Rutgers used to run.

That still afforded some opportunity to pass rush but it was often by looping into an interior gap. Stewart amassed 10 TFLs and 3.5 sacks, though one of those was to seal a division championship.

There's also case to be made that he was the most gameplanned-for guy in the Sun Belt last year. His Michigan coaches suggested he was injured that season as well; maybe that explains why his tackling numbers weren't that great.

Stewart may have entered the portal anyways, but it seems his DC's departure (to Georgia State) helped to push him out the door. Instantly he was the #2 Edge in the portal. LSU jumped in quickly and USC—judging by tone and volume of articles produced by Trojans media—were chasing him desperately. That's when Mikey Sainristil, appearing out of nowhere, made up a ton of ground,

As soon as I seen he was in the Transfer Portal, I told Coach. I was like, ‘Coach we got a guy in the portal. Great player. I think he’d fit in the program very well.’ And they watched his film, they liked them. They trusted my word and we got him here.”

and with a burst of precision and effort, Sainristil was able to knock his friend out of USC's clutches like…like…I don't know, think of a metaphor.

“That’s my recruit. I recruited him,” Michigan DB Mike Sainristil told The Michigan Insider. “He’s a dawg. That’s my boy. I played with him in high school. … I was just letting him know that Josaiah, if you come here, you have the opportunity to change your life. If you had 12 sacks in the Sun Belt, think about having seven plus in the Big Ten against the competition we play. Your ceiling is really high. Your future is right here your hands. Come here, come win a championship, come be a part of a legacy.

Wait I've got it!

Yes, exactly like that. Stewart enrolled early and was one of the highlights of the Spring Game, with a sack, 2 TFLs, and five tackles.

Why Mike Danna? Not a hard comp. The most Taz-like player at Michigan in my lifetime would be Chase Winovich (though I have it on good authority the noises Wino would make while tornadoing through protection was intelligible speech, if most unkind). Wino was also called small—he played safety in high school—but he measured close to 6'3" at the Combine.

Danna was closer to 6'1" and bulked up to about 250 after wrecking the MAC for years. His bend was questioned but not too much because Danna had that ability to get under a guy and forklift him where he wanted to go. Nowadays Danna is doing the same thing for an NFL dynasty. If you'd given Stewart another year in a mid-major conference he'd probably put up Danna-like PFF scores as well.

Guru Reliability: Are we judging by recruits or giving transfers their own scale? Medium for a transfer. Two years of starting, tons of production, tons of tape out there, everyone sees the same small-for-the-position predator. None of it is very applicable against the top half of the Big Ten.

Variance: Low. At minimum he's going to be better than Okie in that role, and that's a role Michigan needs badly. Could be too small and get bonked around a bit, could be 250-something by fall and play his way into a Day 2 pick.

Ceiling: High. We're going to where Danna got in his one season. There won't be two seasons like that since one would be enough to leave for.

Flight Risk Level: High. He's not so small the NFL will ignore him, and not going to get any taller. You've also got Sainristil saying a one-and-done year was part of the pitch to come to Michigan. If Stewart gets close to double-digits in sacks in the Big Ten it's not even a question, since the NFL will take anything that can rush a passer these days.

General Excitement Level: High. Baseline 5; –1 for small; +1 for so was James Hall; +1 for so was Mike Danna; +1 for dude had 13 sacks as a true freshman!; +1 for his sophomore season was sneakily even better; –1 for Sun Belt; +1 for Brother Sainristil vouches for this man; +1 for spring hype lies, but spring game usually don't; –1 for I'd be more excited if he was likely to be more than a one-year rental; +1 for I would trade my basketball team for a real pass rush threat on the weakside edge; –1 for I'm kidding, oh merciful Tehlu please do not strike down my basketball team again; +1 for (not really kidding).

Projection: The one spot I would have traded my basketball team for last year was any of the pass-rushing edges Michigan had from Craig Roh to Aidan Hutchinson. Morris was a good anchor to set someone up, but so many times there'd be nobody on the other edge to collect. Either Okie would run past the play, Harrell would get stopped in his tracks, McGregor would get ripped down by his jersey, or Upshaw would be meticulously working his way in while guarding the exit.

So when the pocket began to collapse on first snap of the spring game, I had a hosannah moment.

Sure, okay, he did it against a redshirt freshman tackle who spent 2020 and 2021 on a Mormon mission. Michigan faced Andrew Gentry-like players last year and got nowhere. Hosannahs. When a guard pulled, Stewart stepped in, and couldn't be dislodged, more Hosannahs. Was it against a recently converted 2-star defensive tackle from New Jersey, sure. Does it mean nothing? No, it just means Diet Something. Do I crave even Diet Something from the weakside pass rush right now? Yes.

So when Stewart whooped Tristan Bounds for a sack, then ran down JJ McCarthy on the edge on the next play, and then dropped back and sniffed out a draw for no gain on the play after that,

Hosannah hey, zannah zannah zannah ho.

I think we can slot Stewart in comfortably as Michigan's primary rush edge--the Okie role--while McGregor and Derrick Moore remain ahead of him when it comes to standard 4-3 stuff. As for the edge in the 5-2 that Jaylen Harrell played last year, yeah, Stewart is coming for that too. You'll also note he looks plenty comfortable dropping into coverage. That's bad news for Jaylen Harrell, who is capable of taking a big step forward this year, and now has to if he wants to keep his job. Former fellow BC commit TJ Guy is also pushed back a spot.

Stewart doesn't have Uche's dip, but he's sized more like Uche--or was in spring--than Mike Danna. I don't think that's going to stick; Michigan runs the opposite of the Stunt 4-3, and won't work if the edges can get bonked. I expect they'll have him around 250 by fall, which should be enough to deal with the split zone tight ends all over Michigan's schedule just fine. Minnesota is the only really heavy power team on the schedule where you don't want a Harrell or Stewart on the field all the time. I might advise saving Stewart anyways, since getting him healthy to The Game could make a huge difference.

I'm not saying the guy is the savior, or even a superstar. I'm saying Josaiah Stewart is enough of an upgrade that Bolded Alter Ego is already working on a Bronx accent. My guess is we get a Danna year, and Stewart heads to the NFL even if that means yet another round of "You're too short and who's your competition?" because 1) what else can he prove, and 2) Sainristil is out of eligibility. I do hope he's not the 20th guy drafted, though, since I'd like to see some guys stick around.