Previously: Last year's profiles. S Quinten Johnson, S Daxton Hill, CB DJ Turner II, CB Jalen Perry, LB Joey Velazquez, LB Anthony Solomon, LB Charles Thomas, DE David Ojabo, DE Gabe Newburg, DE Mike Morris, DT Chris Hinton, DT Mazi Smith.

New Canaan, CT – 6'4", 280
		24/7	3*, #424 overall #41 OT, #5 CT
		Rivals	3*, 5.6 rating #79 OT, #5 CT
		ESPN	3*, 79 rating #47 OT, #4 CT
		Composite	3*, #573 overall #43 OT, #6 CT
		Other Suitors	A&M, TCU, Baylor, Auburn
		YMRMFSPA	Mason Cole
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from Ace.
Notes	Twitter.
Film
Senior year:

Here we go: Michigan's six-man OL class is up next, and if the phrase "six man OL class" doesn't send you into a twitching spasm I doubt the sincerity of your Michigan fandom. The last—sorry—six man OL class around these parts was Brady Hoke's. It produced one season of starting snaps, that from a fifth-year Patrick Kugler on the worst pass-protecting line in recent memory. Ed Warinner will seek to better that, for all our sakes. (Also Michigan didn't replicate Hoke's fatal mistake of taking just two guys the next year—the 2020 class has four OL in it.)

First up is the least-heralded, Connecticut OL Jack Stewart. There's almost no way Stewart could have been heralded: he plays in Connecticut, he's not a 6'6" left tackle, and he entirely avoided the camp scene:

"I've never been to a camp. Ever," said Stewart. "A lot of people are coming at me because I'm only a three star. Well, I've never been to a camp. My dad didn't want me to go to camps. He said, 'they'll find you if you're good.' And that's what happened. I never went to a camp. I never went to a combine. And they ended up finding me."

It helps that he was teammates with a 2019 BC commit and 2020 ND QB commit Drew Pyne. New Canaan was not short of scouts. Not that many of them in the recruiting industry noticed: when Stewart committed he was unranked by ESPN and a two-star on Rivals. 24/7 did have a real ranking for him as the #56 OT.

[After THE JUMP: tough, mobile gent]

Unfortunately the combination of factors that made him unheralded also means that there's not a ton out there. Rivals did provide a courtesy three-star bump, as did ESPN. The latter, as is customary, did not explain themselves at all. Rivals did take a couple cracks:

“He’s a good pass blocker and he’s an agile guy, there’s no doubt about that. … He gets into his pass set quickly and really understands where the rush is coming from. … On film it looks like he has a tendency to play pretty high so we’d like to see him in a camp setting be able to show that he can play with some leverage.”

There was never going to be a camp setting. Friedman did catch Stewart in person during his senior year and was a bit more positive:

…really versatile … can play tackle or guard and he's really physical and athletic. He has no problem setting up and mirroring a defensive lineman in pass protection but also gets downfield and makes key blocks in the running game."

24/7 was considerably higher on Stewart both early and late; he moved up into 3.5* territory there by the end of the cycle because Brian Dohn was a fan:

“… had a great senior season.  … Athletic and plays nasty. …really quick with his feet.  He’s got good technique when he wants to pull.  He plays low, good initial punch, a lot more athletic as a senior than he was as a junior.  And he’s put in a lot of hard work.  But, when you can line up a guy at fullback and move the way he moves, back there at 290, it’s pretty impressive. … really smart, heady player.”

Yeah, New Canaan occasionally used Stewart as a fullback, as you can see on his senior tape above.

More impressive was New Canaan regularly using him as a puller on plays away from him—he's a tackle, don't see that much. There are also a couple of blips on his highlight film that emphasize that he is indeed a smart and heady player. My favorite comes just after the 1 minute mark when he, again pulling to the opposite side as a tackle, encounters a DL who's beaten his man. He whacks the guy and moves on. As a person who has repeatedly said things like "aaargh don't get hung up on penetration" that's very encouraging; on another clip he IDs a slant and retargets effectively to wedge a gap open for his running back. Center is a possibility.

Another thing Stewart has going for him is his ability in space, which Nick Baumgardner highlighted:

…long, rangy athlete. … ability to get into the second and third level as a blocker, while still maintaining balance and power, is top-notch … does a great job of running down linebackers and defensive backs on screens …well-balanced. … doesn't catch blocks, he throws them. He doesn't wait for a defender to make contact with him, he's generally delivering the punch himself while being balanced enough to stay on a block for a finish.  … [has] to continue to improve his footwork and fundamentals in pass protection. 

ND was considering an offer, causing their 24/7 site to give him a look, and they came back saying "he's long, lean, carries his weight well, and is impressive when moving his feet"; His high school coach mentioned Stewart's "motor and energy" first, and that does pop out when you watch his highlights. He gets after guys in space, and there's the occasional reach block mixed in there. He moves.

Stewart had an interesting suite of offers that included Texas A&M, who reportedly had no hesitation about grabbing him…

A&M loves [Stewart] and he is a take all the way.

…along with various other Big 12 teams and, a month after he went off the board, Auburn. Michigan was obviously enthused enough to take him; Steve Lorenz asserts that this was not a close call:

"Michigan loves him. He had a great camp at Michigan, that's really what got everything going. He was quietly a take for Texas A&M and Auburn up front, no one really talks about that with him. … With Stewart, it could be guard or tackle. All depends on how much bigger he gets. They love him, though."

Stewart is not a late flier like Nolan Ulizio or Stephen Spanellis—the latter of whom seems to be working out okay—but a kid with good reason to be under recruiting radars who was a priority for multiple upper-tier P5 programs.

At Michigan tackle is a possibility but is likely to be a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency kind of thing. The class ahead of him has two pure tackles in it; his class has two pure tackles and a third swing guy (Karsen Barnhart); the 2020 class has another pure tackle and possibly a second in it. Stewart says he'll start there but doesn't seem worried about what comes next…

“I’m right at 6-5 and I vary from 280 to 290. I believe I’m coming into Michigan as a tackle, then we’re going to play it from there.”

…and most of the takes out there assert that he's more suited to the interior. His coach:

"He's a big, strong, tough, athlete. He's a heavyweight wrestler. I would play him as a guard …He's tough enough to play inside."

Touch The Banner:

…good frame for an interior lineman. …powerful base with a thick lower body. … pass protection, he does a great job of maintaining inside leverage against pass rushers and stays balanced. … generally keeps a wide base and does a good job of keeping his butt low. He runs his feet through blocks, and he finishes plays. … decent lateral quickness, but he’s not too quick in a straight line.

(This take was from before his senior season, which may explain the divergence in opinions about his ability to move.)

Stewart's a guard who's going to take a couple of years to get up to an ideal weight and adjust to the level of competition; he's far from a sure thing but when the guy bringing up the rear, at least as far as rankings go, is also a target for a couple of high level SEC programs your—sorry—six man OL class is probably going to work out better than the last one.

Why Mason Cole? Swing OL of a sort but likely to be much better on the interior. Heady. Mobile. Cole had a better recruiting profile, slotting in around 100th, and played better competition; he was able to slot in right away as a starter and survive. Stewart is more of a wildcard but if he hits his ceiling the finished product would be similar.

Guru Reliability: Low-plus. No camps, Connecticut, some effort to deal with that by Rivals/247, level of competition Qs make it hard to judge.

Variance: High. OL, level of competition concerns.

Ceiling: Moderate-plus. Unlikely to be a star but could end up being on NFL draft radars if he gets near the Cole comparison.

General Excitement Level: Moderate. OL is about maximizing lottery tickets and Stewart is a reasonable one to pick up.

Projection: Is OL, redshirt. Next year three or four spots come open, depending on whether Cesar Ruiz is an early entry, but with the loser of the Stueber/Mayfield battle very likely to take the open tackle job the competition will be on the interior. Stewart would have to beat out at least one and maybe two of Filiagia, Spanellis, and Honigford along with his classmates—a tall order.

More likely he settles in for a wait, with a shot to emerge as an interior OL in year three or four.