The 2026 NFL draft is just over one month away, with the three-day event being held from April 23 through 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This year marks the 91st annual event and is taking place in Pittsburgh for the first time since 1948, so it’s been a minute. The event will happen around Acrisure Stadium and Point State Park and feature every NFL team selecting 257 total picks.
Ahead of the excitement, NFL experts and analysts are predicting what moves each team will make during the three-day excursion. Of coures, the teams who had the worst seasons get to pick first in the first round of the draft, while the Super Bowl winner, this year being the Seattle Seahawks, goes at the end of the round.
For the Mike Vrabel and the New England Patriots, they already have a team that went all the way to the Super Bowl for the 2025-26 season, so it’s about retaining talent and adding to it.
In a Tuesday, March 17 feature for Fox Sports, lead college football analyst Joel Klatt sees them getting Cashius Howell, an edge, out of Texas A&M.
“Howell’s gotten a knock for short arms. Just with Bain, though, go watch Howell’s tape,” he notes in the feature. “He was incredibly productive at Texas A&M this past season, and I think Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel will love having a guy like him on his roster.”
The player’s NFL draft profile sings his praises, stating that he’s a “Bendy edge rusher with standout sack totals.” The profile adds that “burst and elusiveness are on Howell's rush menu and he pairs it with a refreshing inside spin counter.”
On the negative side, “As a run defender he's frequently knocked around at the point and struggles to consistently execute tasks asked of an NFL edge-setter. Howell might not be a three-down player right away, but his ability to create pressure sets him up for a role as a designated rusher, at minimum.”
Still, Vrabel and the Patriots could use another solid edge, and that’s where this budding player could fit.
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