Bengals' familiar and trusted source delivered the best kind of endorsement for top draft pick Cashius Howell
Cincinnati Bengals second round pick Cashius Howell speaks with media during the 2026 NFL Draft, Saturday, April 25, 2026, at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati. © Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 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.