Week 8 might be the Shemar Stewart jump Bengals fans have waited for

The Cincinnati Bengals have fielded a disappointing group of defensive ends in recent years outside of Trey Hendrickson, but rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart is meant to reverse that trend.

Stewart had a dubious production profile coming out of Texas A&M. However, his athleticism and resulting limitless potential are undeniable. An ankle injury sidelined him from Week 2 until his return in this past Thursday's big win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As hope resurfaces in Cincinnati ahead of Week 8's home matchup against the winless New York Jets, Who Dey Nation should be rejoicing at the Bengals just revealed via their latest depth chart.

Shemar Stewart (finally) eclipses Joseph Ossai on Bengals depth chart for Week 8 vs. Jets

My contention all along has been that Shemar Stewart should've started from the jump. Perhaps his contract holdout and absence from a lot of the offseason program played a part in his belated elevation to starter status. Then of course, there was that nagging injury that stymied him on the heels of an excellent NFL debut.

Couldn't be happier to pass along Tuesday's news that all those trials and tribulations can be cast aside. The 21-year-old phenom is officially listed as a starter for Week 8 versus Gang Green.

I've made the same, nowadays tired joke about Joseph Ossai pretty much since I signed on to this job. Ossai is the perfect biological analogy to the play Waiting for Godot. As in, he's an annual breakout candidate whose breakout never arrives.

That didn't stop the Bengals from paying him $6.5 million to return in 2025. If they hadn't convinced Hendrickson to stick around via a solid raise for this year only, what would Cincinnati's pass rush look like? I shudder to imagine it.

Week 7 may have marked a turning point in the Bengals' season thanks to Joe Flacco and the offense, yet the Hendrickson-less defensive line was less than impressive (to be polite).

Ossai is not that guy. Myles Murphy is not that guy. Cam Sample is not that guy.

Maybe Shemar Stewart is that guy. You know, that guy who can supply some sort of disruption up front and opposite Hendrickson on the edge. Heck, he was the 17th overall pick, and you'd hope to get some return on investment from him.

It's possible the Bengals planned to start Stewart all along upon his return. They could've been keeping his best interests at heart, not wanting to press him back into action post-injury.

I get that abundance of caution and big-picture view for him. I also can be frustrated that Murphy (44) and Ossai (42) outsnapped Stewart (22) against the Steelers.

Cincinnati is insistent on getting its rookie linebackers in Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter on the field as much as possible. They're replacing the likes of longtime franchise cornerstone Logan Wilson and Eagles Super Bowl run starter Oren Burks.

Wilson and Burks are better NFL players than Ossai, Murphy, or Sample could ever dream of being. Knight and Carter have struggled a lot.

Not to get too butterfly effect-y on y'all, but think about how things might be different if Shemar Stewart had started right away. Isn't it possible that the sequence of events that led to his Week 2 injury would've been different? Isn't it conceivable that he could've been healthy this whole time instead — and thus be that much further along in realizing his potential?

These are rhetorical questions that I know I'm right about. Props to Zac Taylor, Al Golden, and the Bengals staff for finally making the move to Stewart as a starter. Now he gets extra time to prepare for a Jets o-line that ranks eighth-worst in PFF's pass blocking grades.

Don't be surprised if Stewart hits the ground running, sees easily his highest snap count, makes a several splash plays, and produces a takeaway as the Bengals defense tries to fight back and help will this team back to the .500 mark on Sunday.

We might be on to something here, folks...

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