Cincinnati Bengals hoping a NFL Draft pipeline will finally give the team long-term stability at an important position
The Cincinnati Bengals are searching for its future on the EDGE. They’re hoping two players from similar backgrounds fill that void.
The Cincinnati Bengals went back to the Texas A&M well for edge rushing talent in consecutive drafts, selecting Shemar Stewart and then Cashius Howell in the second round the following year in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Both players now face defining stretches in their development, though for very different reasons. Stewart enters year two trying to salvage his trajectory after an injury-plagued rookie campaign. Howell arrives as a rookie whose opportunity has already expanded because of Stewart’s setback.
Stewart’s first NFL season was far from ideal.
He dealt with two separate injuries and played in roughly half the games, a devastating blow for a prospect who needed every rep he could get. Coming out of college without significant production numbers, Stewart was always going to be a developmental player whose physical traits and tools needed time to translate into actual NFL success.
That translation can only happen on the field, and Stewart simply was not on it enough.
The bad luck has continued into training camp. Stewart suffered a hyperextended knee during the Bengals’ very first practice of camp, marking Cincinnati’s first and really only major injury of the preseason. The expectation is that he will return around the time the regular season begins, but even that timeline means he is missing valuable training camp and preseason reps. The fact that he is a freak athlete with remarkable joint and ligament durability likely prevented a worse outcome, but the missed time compounds an already concerning trend.
Three injuries across just two years of NFL time raises legitimate questions about his long-term viability as a contributor.
Stewart needs to show something this season. He sits in a rotation behind starters Myles Murphy and Boye Mafe on the edge, a spot where opportunities should come if he can stay healthy. The football character questions that lingered from his rookie contract holdout appear to have faded.
His agent’s refusal to sign standard offset language created a perception issue early in his career, but Stewart has since been locked in at practice and said the right things this offseason about building on his rookie year. Even while sidelined with the knee injury, he has remained present at practices, standing near drills in team gear and absorbing what he can.
Cashius Howell looks the part as a rookie
With Stewart sidelined, Howell’s opportunities have increased.
The Bengals view him as a different type of player than Stewart. At 6-2, 250 pounds, Howell is the perfect mold backup for Mafe. Both players are essentially 3-4 outside linebackers now, meaning Howell will drop back into coverage at times and handle the typical responsibilities that come with that position.
What has stood out early is Howell’s pass rushing ability. He brings a wide array of moves and has shown them in both practice and the preseason.
He nearly recorded a sack in his preseason debut, but defensive tackle Chris Jenkins beat him to the quarterback first. Howell very much looks the part of what his college evaluation suggested he could be coming out of Texas A&M.
The game is still fast for a rookie, though.
Howell will get more opportunities with Stewart out, and the development runway is there. The Bengals are essentially running two very different types of edge defenders behind their starters, giving the defensive coordinator flexibility depending on the matchup.
The former Texas A&M and Bowling Green standout is seemingly making plays every day. If Howell continues trending in this direction, he should play a lot in 2026.
The path forward for both players
Stewart and Howell represent two distinct chapters of the same positional investment.
He is the high-traits project who has not been able to stay on the field long enough to develop. Howell is the rookie who fits a cleaner positional mold and has hit the ground running in a limited sample. Cincinnati needs both to contribute this season if the edge rotation is going to hold up behind Murphy and Mafe.
For Stewart specifically, the clock is ticking. You can only bank on traits and potential for so long before the production needs to follow.
A healthy stretch of games this fall would go a long way toward answering the questions that have built up over 18 difficult months. The Bengals believe he is in a better place now than he was a year ago, and his engagement while injured supports that.
Whether it translates once the pads come on remains the biggest unknown in Cincinnati’s defensive front.
