When the Bengals drafted Shemar Stewart with the 17th overall pick on Thursday night, everyone's mind rushed to the same thing: hope Trey Hendrickson enjoys Indianapolis.
In their defense, it's not exactly difficult to connect the dots: Hendrickson's been locked into a new contract dispute with the front office for most of the front office, so much so that he's been willing to go public about his issues with what's happening. Considering the Bengals spent basically every dollar to their name signing Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to extensions, it's felt a lot like Hendrickson is the odd man out.
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On top of that, they go and draft someone at the same position – who will, by the way, cost way less money – with their most valuable draft pick? It's not exactly subtle. But why waste your time worrying about the negative angle when, with a little bit of creative gymnastics, you can spin this into the most positive news of the night: the Bengals may finally have a semblance of a defense. Joe Burrow's probably doing backflips. But, like, chill, nonchalant backflips in designer shades.
Maybe Shemar Stewart will be the one who finally makes the Bengals' defense good
Of all the non-Patrick Mahomes excuses for why the Bengals haven't won a Super Bowl yet in the Burrow-Chase era, their defense is probably the most egregious. Somehow, despite employing the NFL's leader in sacks, they finished 25th in points allowed last season.
That wasn't an outlier, either – they finished 22nd in passing yards allowed, 30th in first downs allowed, 29th in passing touchdowns allowed, and 24th in rushing touchdowns allowed. I could keep going, but you get it. They were a fun case study in just how bad a defense needed to be in order to sink one of the league's elite offenses. (And fun is maybe not totally the correct word.)
But now, with a second pass rusher? Things could be looking up. Maybe Hendrickson and the front office figure it out, Stewart learns quickly from one of the best, and the Bengals finally put together a halfway competent defense that can give up a normal amount of points. That's all we're asking for! Just a normal amount of points. Seems doable, no?