![\"Cashius](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2237788606-e1774291619261.jpg\")
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The Chargers are predicted to land Cashius Howell in a recent mock draft<\/p>\n
Khalil Mack<\/a> is returning for his 13th season in the NFL<\/a> and his 5th with the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> after mulling retirement for the second straight offseason.<\/p>\n Retaining a player of his caliber is good for any team, but the EDGE rusher is 35 years old and is not getting any younger.<\/p>\n The Bolts have the opportunity to fill a replacement for Mack with the 22nd overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, with the opportunity to learn from Khalil Mack.<\/p>\n Chargers Predicted to Add SEC DPOY GettyThe Chargers can bolster the defensive line in the NFL Draft<\/p>\n Los Angeles brought back Khalil Mack, but lost one of their better EDGE rushers of the 2025 season in Odafe Oweh<\/a>, who went to sign with the Washington Commanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n Oweh logged 7.5 sacks in 12 regular season games with the Chargers and 3 sacks in the AFC wildcard loss to the New England Patriots<\/a>.<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Matt Miller released his latest mock draft<\/a> and has the Bolts addressing their defensive end woes, predicting the team to select Texas A&M\u2019s Cashius Howell with the 22nd overall pick.<\/p>\n \u201cThe loss of\u00a0Odafe Oweh<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0free agency\u00a0opens the door for a speed rusher in Round 1. Howell led the SEC with 11.5 sacks and added 40 pressures. The 6-foot-3 edge doesn\u2019t have ideal NFL length with 30\u00bc-inch arms but is a blur off the line of scrimmage, and he consistently wins with burst and a low center of gravity. Howell can learn from\u00a0Khalil Mack for a season while working in sub-package roles.\u201d<\/p>\n Howell, who won the 2025 SEC Defensive Player of the Year award, has recorded 27 sacks in his collegiate career. The pass rusher also logged 127 tackles (35.5 for a loss) during his time in the NCAA.<\/p>\n NFL analyst Lance Zierlein mentioned<\/a> that the pass rusher needs better handwork when entering the league, and what better teacher than Khalil Mack?<\/p>\n Chargers EDGE rusher Tuli Tuipulotu<\/a> revealed that Mack helped him learn a lot in his rookie season.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say I learned a lot from Khalil about being a leader and a man,\u201d Tuipulotu said, via the Chargers<\/a>. \u201cWhen the season was going down, Khalil did a good job of keeping people together.\u201d<\/p>\n Cashius Howell Pro Comparison GettyThe Chargers are predicted to draft Cashius Howell<\/p>\n While Lance Zierlein critiqued part of Cashius Howell\u2019s game, he also gave the EDGE rusher major props, comparing him to one of the better players at his position.<\/p>\n The analyst called Houston Texans<\/a> defensive star Will Anderson Jr.<\/a> the Aggies pro player comparison.<\/p>\n \u201c[Howell is a] bendy edge rusher with standout sack totals. Burst and elusiveness are on Howell\u2019s rush menu and he pairs it with a refreshing inside spin counter,\u201d Zierlein wrote. \u201cHowell might not be a three-down player right away, but his ability to create pressure sets him up for a role as a designated rusher, at minimum.\u201d<\/p>\n If the Los Angeles Chargers were to select Cashius Howell, he would be paired up with a rotational team of Tuli Tuipulotu and Khalil Mack, and become one of the EDGE rushing groups in the league.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJason Garcia<\/a> Jason Garcia is a sports contributor for Heavy Sports who joined the team in 2025, covering the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. More about Jason Garcia<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Chargers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Chargers are predicted to land Cashius Howell in a recent mock draft Khalil Mack is returning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":846413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,7,1014,262,2444,2443,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-846412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-chargers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","12":"tag-losangeles","13":"tag-losangeleschargers","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116327780973677280","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cashius](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cashius-Howell-1-e1770660722120.jpg\")
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