Michigan EDGE Josaiah Stewart announces return for 2024 season
Michigan Wolverines football lost two EDGEs to the NFL Draft in seniors Braiden McGregor and Jaylen Harrell, but one of its key pieces will return, with junior Josaiah Stewart announcing that he’ll spend another year in the Maize and Blue in 2024. He has one year of eligibility left.
Stewart was a standout in the EDGE rotation in 2023, his first season in Ann Arbor after transferring in from Coastal Carolina. The 6-foot-1, 245-pounder out of the Bronx, N.Y., Stewart appeared in all 15 outings off the bench, accumulating 38 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. He was tied for second on the team with 29 pressures, behind only Harrell with 33.
Stewart helped Michigan complete a perfect, 15-0 season and win the national championship with CFP victories over Alabama (27-20 in overtime at the Rose Bowl) and Washington (34-13 over Washington in the title game in Houston).
In 2022 at Coastal Carolina, he tied for his team’s lead with 10 tackles for loss, adding 41 total stops, 3.5 sacks, 5 quarterback hurries and 1 blocked kick. He was named second-team All-Sun Belt after being recognized as the league’s preseason player of the year. Stewart generated 40 pressures on the year, leading Coastal Carolina and ranking tied for 30th nationally among edge rushers. Despite being undersized for the position, Stewart played 514 of his 529 defensive snaps at the edge spot in 2022.
Stewart was even more productive as a freshman in 2021, leading the Sun Belt with 12.5 sacks. That ranked fifth nationally. He added 43 tackles, including 15.5 behind the line of scrimmage, with 3 forced fumbles. He led his squad with 41 pressures.
He was named a true freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America and ESPN.com, while also being selected as a Phil Steele All-American honorable mention. He landed on the All-Sun Belt first team and earned the league’s newcomer of the year honor.
Stewart attended Everett (Mass.) High, where he was teammates with Michigan graduate defensive back Mike Sainristil, who led the Wolverines with 6 interceptions in 2023.
