Cincinnati Bengals second-round draft pick Cashius Howell is stepping into a locker room of great players, and his former strength and conditioning coach sees that same greatness in him.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCincinnati Bengals second round pick Cashius Howell speaks with media during the 2026 NFL Draft, Saturday, April 25, 2026, at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9 Frank Bowen IV\/The Enquirer \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n
The last three NFL Draft classes for the Cincinnati Bengals have all featured a defensive lineman from Texas A&M. <\/p>\n
Cashius Howell is joining Shemar Stewart and McKinnley Jackson as former Aggies on the Bengals\u2019 roster after being selected No. 41 in the 2026 draft.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati has developed close ties to the program that used to employ head coach Zac Taylor as a graduate assistant nearly 20 years ago. You can point to a notable coach on staff for the relationship continuing to prosper three years running. <\/p>\n
Tommy Moffitt sees rare greatness in Cashius Howell<\/p>\n
Texas A&M\u2019s director of football strength and conditioning Tommy Moffitt has been around the block. He spent time with Tennessee and Miami in the 90s before calling LSU home for over two decades. The number of NFL greats he\u2019s helped in the weight room is too high to count. <\/p>\n
Joe Burrow and Ja\u2019Marr Chase are two of them. <\/p>\n
The Bengals\u2019 scouting of Howell including a valuable nugget from Moffitt, in which he was compared to Cincy\u2019s franchise players in a very positive manner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think Cashius Howell was quite the player he is now when he just got there out of Bowling Green,\u201d Bengals assistant general manager Mike Potts told The Athletic\u2019s Paul Dehner Jr<\/a>. \u201cTheir strength staff as well, Tommy Moffitt was their guy at LSU forever, so he has great comparisons. He coached Peyton Manning back in the day. He coached, obviously, Joe Burrow and Ja\u2019Marr Chase, and a lot of these guys. And another nugget from him that I don\u2019t think he\u2019d be upset with sharing on Cashius\u2019 drive. He compared him to some of those great players in terms of work ethic and drive. So, just putting all of the process together through all of our guys, it was a guy that we really developed an affinity for throughout the process.\u201d<\/p>\n Cashius Howell Stats & Facts<\/p>\n Cincinnati drafted Howell with the No. 41 pick in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n Howell was born and raised in Kansas City, Mo. He grew up a Kansas City Chiefs fan, and attended Bowling Green State University the first three years of his college career.<\/p>\n Texas A&M landed Howell in the transfer portal exiting the 2023 season. The then 21-year old played alongside Shemar Stewart for the Aggies.<\/p>\n Howell was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 after racking up 14.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. <\/p>\n Hidden layer of confidence in Cincy\u2019s top pick<\/p>\n The tape, production, and athleticism data all support Howell being a high quality prospect. It\u2019s the intel scouts and executives like Potts have access to that really puts a player evaluation over the top.<\/p>\n Cincinnati has seen first-hand the work ethic Burrow and Chase possess, and how it\u2019s helped make them top players at their respective positions. Moffitt grouping Howell with the best teammates he\u2019s about to have is very promising news, and definitely supports the Bengals\u2019 first-round grade on him.<\/p>\n
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