CINCINNATI -- The memory was still fresh in Cashius Howell's mind.
During garbage time of a 2022 game between Bowling Green and Mississippi State, Howell twisted upfield, went around an offensive lineman and sacked Sawyer Robertson for his first collegiate sack. Howell, then a redshirt freshman, didn't have a pre-planned sack celebration.
The Cincinnati Bengals are hoping he'll have plenty of opportunities to do the same this fall. The Bengals drafted Howell in the second round (No. 41) of this year's draft to continue this offseason's theme of fortifying the defensive line with proven pass rushers.
And no matter how Howell is deployed during his rookie season, he has a clear mission in mind.
"I don't really want to chase accolades or stats or anything like that," Howell said on Friday. "I just want to put myself in the best position to go out there and have the highest positive impact that I can."
Howell was among the team's newcomers who participated in Friday's rookie minicamp inside Paycor Stadium. Howell and cornerback Tacario Davis, the team's third-round selection, were the only members of Cincinnati's seven-man draft class who didn't sign their rookie contracts.
But Howell and Davis both went through the drills, which didn't prompt flashbacks of last year's contract dispute with Shemar Stewart, Cincinnati's 2025 first-round pick who ultimately signed his contract when training camp started.
All offseason, the Bengals have made adding disruptive pass rushers a priority. The trade with the New York Giants for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II punctuated a series of moves in recent months to improve the defensive line. That includes signing edge rusher Boye Mafe and defensive lineman Jonathan Allen in free agency.
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The Bengals chose to add Howell to that group instead of other options, including former Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. During the predraft process, there were questions about Howell's arm length (30.25 inches, second-shortest recorded among edge rushers at the combine since 2003). But he had 11.5 sacks in his final season at Texas A&M, which led him to being named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
And despite the lack of measurables, the Bengals loved how Howell plays. In his postdraft debrief, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin gushed about Howell's vast arsenal of pass rush moves, the strength and power in his hands and a willingness to pursue in the run game.
Tobin listed another key intangible as well. Nobody really recruited Howell coming out of Kansas City's Rockhurst High School. That forced him to prove himself at Bowling Green before finding a spot at Texas A&M.
"He was down," Tobin said on April 27. "Then he started to develop. It came together for him, which is a good sign. It wasn't handed to him. He had to go earn it."
Howell already has a number of friends with pro experience to lean on as he tries to get acclimated to the pros. He remains close with Green Bay's Karl Brooks and Carolina's Nic Scourton, Howell's teammates at Bowling Green and Texas A&M, respectively.
Then there's Stewart, Cincinnati's first-round pick last season. The best advice Stewart passed along was also perhaps the simplest.
"Don't think that just because you're a rookie, that you're going to get any free passes or that you're going to just get away with shortcuts," Howell said. "It's just going to be a grind in this first year and that bring your work boots every day."
Bengals assistant general manager Mike Potts compared Howell's profile to that of Mafe, who was Cincinnati's marquee signing in free agency (three years, $60 million). Along with being Mafe's understudy, Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden said Howell can do everything from be an edge rusher to drop into coverage as an outside linebacker if needed.
Howell is willing to do all of it.
"I just want to make sure that I'm doing everything in my power to put myself and the team in the best position to win," Howell said.
And unlike in college, he already has a sack celebration in mind: The "Billionaire Strut" made famous by UFC fighter Conor McGregor and former WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
It's always good to have a plan.
