Cincinnati Bengals rookie defensive end Cashius Howell doesn’t have a sack through two games, but teammate and fellow Texas A&M product Shemar Stewart said it’s coming.
Howell, the Bengals’ second-round draft pick this year, has been living in the opponent’s backfield and ranks third on the team in pressures with seven, including six quarterback hurries and one hit.
Five of those pressures came Sunday at Houston, and no one seems surprised by Howell’s early involvement.
“Cashius is doing his thing,” said Stewart, who made his season debut Sunday and recorded a sack in just five snaps played late in the 20-6 win. “It's gonna come. You know, he's always there. It's just a game of inches, but ain't no rushing it.”
Howell finished his college career with 27 sacks in four years between Bowling Green and Texas A&M, including 11.5 sacks in 2025.
Cincinnati Bengals: Al Golden had a message for Duke Tobin after another Bengals defensive masterpiece
This week would be a good time to get that first NFL sack, though, as the Bengals (2-0) travel to play the AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) on Sunday. Howell isn’t concerned about the timing but wants to help his team and remain disruptive. A sack would be rewarding.
“Definitely pretty eager to go get it,” Howell said of how close he’s been to getting his first sack. “Obviously, I'm not really necessarily chasing stats. I just kind of want to go out there and have the best impact that I can. Obviously, I'm eager to get the first sack though. But you know, just kind of taking one game at a time, one play at a time.”
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has taken the ninth-most sacks in the NFL since the start of the 2024 season and four of his 75 sacks in that span came last week in a loss to New England.
The 42-year-old isn’t as mobile as he once was but knows how to get the ball out quickly and has an offensive line that was expected to be improved this season. PFF.com ranked Pittsburgh with the 12th-best offensive line in the league this year.
Howell said it’s a good opportunity for the defense to continue to prove itself and establish its identity as one that is tough to beat. A chance to do that against a quarterback like Rodgers would just be a bonus.
“It's definitely kind of a full circle moment,” said Howell, whose first memory of watching Rodgers was when he was 7 years old and Rodgers won the Super Bowl with Green Bay, beating the Steelers, in 2011. “Just, you know, growing up, you watch people like that, watch quarterbacks like that, and to now go against them and be able to sack them and get them on the ground, that would be a a very cool thing to do.”
Cincinnati’s defensive line has been as good as, maybe better than, expected this season after the front office invested in three new starters and the organization used its first draft pick on Howell, selecting him in the second round. The Bengals traded their No. 10 overall pick for Dexter Lawrence.
Howell had a good preseason, but it usually takes rookies some time to settle into the faster, more physical game at the NFL level. That doesn’t seem to be the case for him, and he’s not surprised.
“I put in a lot of work to get to this point,” Howell said. “God has blessed me enough to get me to where I'm at today, and I just feel like it's in my nature, and it's already kind of written as to the things that I'm doing now. I've always kind of believed that I was able to be the type of caliber of player that I am, and I'm just glad to see that it's coming into fruition now.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Howell has been exactly what they were hoping he would be when drafting him, but there’s still more to come.
“There’s still a higher ceiling there, as he continues to face different tackles and different techniques they’re going to employ and different styles of guys… but the effort is there,” Taylor said. “The work ethic is there. And feel like he’s played a factor in these games, which is encouraging to see — along with a lot of other guys at that position. I think that the depth that we have accrued there is really critical for us.”
Bengals Texans Football
Cincinnati Bengals' Cashius Howell walks to sideline after stopping the Houston Texans on fourth down during an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Houston.