Zac Taylor left with obvious Shemar Stewart decision after Bengals preseason loss

Murphy admitted to a poor work ethic in a story that broke earlier this week. It shows in his lack of production (3 sacks in two seasons). I saw nothing on Thursday night that led me to believe Murphy can be a meaningful contributor on Sundays.

While Bengals management continues to indefensibly drag their feet on a Trey Hendrickson extension, Taylor might as well make the call to run Stewart with the 1s and give him as many reps as possible.

The thing is, Stewart already held out for most of the offseason program. He lacked productivity at the collegiate level, yet he's quite literally a historic athlete amongst the many elite athletes who've entered the NFL before him. Stewart's physical tools rival anyone who's ever done it.

At 21 years of age, the former Texas A&M standout has dominated backups throughout training camp. Now, it's time to put him with — to borrow a Joe Burrow phrase — "THE BIG DOGS."

Stewart's run of stellar form continued into live game action versus the Eagles — and he even showed that he could indeed excel when aligned on the inside.

I get that you want rookies to "earn" their jobs, and that Stewart shouldn't necessarily be rewarded for staying away from the team so long. That said, sometimes it's not about "earning" a job as much as the other professionals in the mix are simply not as good.

All due respect to Murphy, Joseph "Your Breakout Is Like Waiting For Godot" Ossai, and Cam Sample coming off a torn Achilles, but what are we even doing here? I can confidently say after Thursday night, Stewart showed more promise than those three defensive ends ever have at the NFL level combined.

OK that's a little hyperbolic when it comes to Ossai. I still haven't forgiven him for that AFC Championship Game penalty. Then again, am I supposed to think five sacks in 17 games last year is some sort of sign that Ossai is turning a corner?

You can see Stewart's confidence growing by the day, too.

If any of this is a sign of things to come, my goodness, Taylor can't install Stewart as a starter soon enough. In a perfect world, would've happened yesterday. Or last week. Or to be honest, when he heard his name called on draft night.

Hand up: I didn't want Shemar Stewart. I wanted James Pearce Jr. most among the edge defenders available. Would've settled for Eagles linebacker Jihaad Campbell or Ravens safety Malaki Starks at other positions.

I'm starting to come around on Stewart in a big way — and it's not only because of the lack of appealing alternatives at his position. The flashes of brilliance are real. It's up to Zac Taylor to give him reps soon enough so that Stewart can have the most impactful rookie season possible.