Summary

Cashius Howell (23 years old) is a dominant defensive end who began his college career at Bowling Green (2021–2023) before transferring to Texas A&M in 2024. In 2025, Howell recorded 11.5 sacks along with around 31 total tackles and one forced fumble, leading the SEC in sacks and earning him SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, unanimous All-America recognition, and multiple All-SEC first-team selections. Howell has no major public character or academic red flags and is widely regarded by coaches and teammates as a hard-working, high-character leader and professional. In terms of injury history, Howell has been largely durable with no major injuries causing extended absences, underscoring his toughness and reliability as a cornerstone of the Aggies’ defense.

Strengths

Crash Bandicoot: Times the snap well and immediately stresses tackles with upfield acceleration. Relentless pursuit and motor allows him to chase plays from the backside and works to finish outside the pocket.
Jack-in-the-Box: Can build momentum through contact and compress the pocket with leg drive. Has experience rushing from both two- and three-point stances in multiple fronts.
Get in the Chopper: Flashes chops, swipes, and cross-face moves to disengage and stay clean as a rusher. Counters with developing inside spin and secondary moves when initial rush is stalled.
Junkyard Dawg: Shows willingness to anchor and hold outside leverage in the run game. Does not take plays off and is hungry for the box score. Howell didn’t play much in 2024 behind Shemar Stewart and Nic Scourton so he played like he relished the limelight in 2025.

Weaknesses

T-Rex: Howell’s 30 1/8” arms are some of the shortest ever measured for an edge rusher, so historical odds are greatly stacked against him. Take the arm length away and you might be looking at a top five pick.
Functional Strength: Can be displaced by down blocks and double teams at the point of attack, especially when pad level rises. Could benefit from additional bulk to handle sustained NFL-caliber physicality.
Over-Aggression: Aggressive upfield charge can open cutback lanes if contain is lost. Secondary moves can come late, allowing tackles to reset their hands.
Streaky: Howell can take over a game with some back-to-back plays when he gets hot but equally suffers from spells where he will be quiet for an extended duration.

Outlook

Howell is a high-motor, explosive pass-rusher with bend, strong hand usage, and the physicality to hold up against the run, making him a disruptive presence on early downs and an asset as a situational edge. He projects best in attacking defensive schemes that use hybrid fronts—whether a 4-3 that allows him to rush off the edge with freedom to stunt and bend or a 3-4 that lets him set the edge and rush on obvious passing downs—rather than systems that demand strict run-setting responsibilities. Howell has all the tools and wiring to be a top 10 pick in the draft but will almost certainly be dinged by some clubs with stringent length thresholds. As a result, it would be equally conceivable that Howell goes top 15 as it would be if he slipped into the second round.

Pro Comparison: Yannick Ngakoue

Team Fits: BAL, TB, LAC, SF, JAX

Report written by Filip Prus