Bengals’ familiar and trusted source delivered the best kind of endorsement for top draft pick Cashius Howell
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.
The last three NFL Draft classes for the Cincinnati Bengals have all featured a defensive lineman from Texas A&M.
Cashius Howell is joining Shemar Stewart and McKinnley Jackson as former Aggies on the Bengals’ roster after being selected No. 41 in the 2026 draft.
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.
Tommy Moffitt sees rare greatness in Cashius Howell
Texas A&M’s 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’s helped in the weight room is too high to count.
Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase are two of them.
The Bengals’ scouting of Howell including a valuable nugget from Moffitt, in which he was compared to Cincy’s franchise players in a very positive manner.
“I don’t think Cashius Howell was quite the player he is now when he just got there out of Bowling Green,” Bengals assistant general manager Mike Potts told The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. “Their 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’Marr Chase, and a lot of these guys. And another nugget from him that I don’t think he’d be upset with sharing on Cashius’ 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.”
Cashius Howell Stats & Facts
Cincinnati drafted Howell with the No. 41 pick in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
- 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.
- 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.
- Howell was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 after racking up 14.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks.
Hidden layer of confidence in Cincy’s top pick
The tape, production, and athleticism data all support Howell being a high quality prospect. It’s the intel scouts and executives like Potts have access to that really puts a player evaluation over the top.
Cincinnati has seen first-hand the work ethic Burrow and Chase possess, and how it’s helped make them top players at their respective positions. Moffitt grouping Howell with the best teammates he’s about to have is very promising news, and definitely supports the Bengals’ first-round grade on him.
“To get him there is huge,” Ramsey told Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson. “We were already discussing him in the first round if we were able to move back, and maybe even if we got picked over at No. 10. That’s the kind of player we see him.”
Moffitt and the Bengals are familiar with each other considering how many of his former players have become Bengals. His word on the matter carries much weight, and it’s fair to say it helped the club land on Howell as its first actual draft pick last week.
