ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Bulked up and ready to go, Josaiah Stewart is eager to make his Michigan football debut.
Up to 245 pounds now, which is the weight he played at when he had a team-leading 12.5 sacks for Coastal Carolina in 2021, Stewart notes that he brings a different skill set to the Wolverine pass rushing corps.
Asked what makes him different compared to some of his compatriots, and he describes himself as an off-speed pitch in baseball.
“Some experience — all those guys have different types of experiences, whether bigger games, more snaps or whatever,” Stewart said. “But probably I’d say experience and speed to the room — like a fastball, curveball, you know? We have Jay and Braiden and bigger guys, longer guys, we throw them at those tackles and you bring a guy like me with speed and it’s a different ballgame, you know? So just having a switch up in that room is important for us.”
One of the places that Stewart has a benefit is that he is a bit more diminutive — albeit not small — than some of his counterparts. Listed at 6-foot-1, 245-pounds, though he’ll be going up against much bigger offensive tackles, having him come in as a change-up provides some benefits in terms of forcing opponents to change up techniques to guard him.
“You look at guys in a league like Yannick Ngakoue, Haason Reddick, those guys aren’t super tall, but they use their length that they have and their size to their advantage,” Stewart said. “So I study those type of guys, because I can relate to them, to their playstyle. But there’s really no advantage really having that natural leverage getting under them. And imagine even getting even lower, they can’t really block that — especially those big 6-7, 330-pound tackles, they don’t really want to get that low and move their feet that well. So you really got to use any and every advantage you have.”
Michigan football fans will get to know Stewart starting on Saturday, but for those who haven’t seen him much at Coastal Carolina or at the spring game, what kind is the best comp in his eyes?
While he notes that he’s not on that pro-level just yet, he mentioned some familiar names in the NFL as those he works to be similar to.
“I try to model my game after Myles Garrett, but I can’t really emulate the things that he does. He’s a freak,” Stewart said. “But yeah, like I said, guys like Haason Reddick and Yannick Ngakoue, back when he was with the Jaguars, those smaller edge rushers that can really bend and use their pad level. I love those guys for sure.”
A lot of analysts, here included, have noted that he bears some physical similarities to the Wolverines’ former pass-rushing specialist Josh Uche, who went on to be a second-round NFL draft pick in 2020.
While Stewart notes there are similarities, he hopes that he’ll make a name for himself outside of comparing like-to-like in a winged helmet.
“Not much at Michigan but watch his tape in New England,” Stewart said. “Being from Massachusetts, I watch a lot of those games. I can see it, but I gotta just do me, you know.”