Before the Cincinnati Bengals lined up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the opener, it felt like Cashius Howell was on his way to a breakout debut.
Rookie or not, Howell delivered.
Howell had four pressures on the day his Bengals defense forced four turnovers, rattling Baker Mayfield all afternoon.
Like Boye Mafe and others, Howell was feasting on the solo attention on the edges while the Buccaneers worried about Dexter Lawrence and others in the middle.
But that’s not meant to undersell him: This type of production in college is what had the Bengals saying they would have drafted him in the first round, too.
Bengals offensive tackle Amarius Mims, who had a an All-Pro like breakout of his own during the win, told ESPN’s Ben Baby that he’s still
surprised Howell is even in town.
"I don't know he fell to us in the second round," Mims said. "I don't know how that was possible. But I'm very glad he's on our team. He's going to be a great, great addition for us."
We could talk all day about how Howell’s college production is a direct opposite of college teammate Shemar Stewart’s immense upside. It’s a big talking point leaguewide about draft strategy right now.
But the Bengals? It’s almost irrelevant now. Howell has indeed hit on an early breakout and the scheme, built around Lawrence, had its first successful proof of concept. If Howell, Stewart, Mafe and others can keep rotating and remain effective all season, it will go a long way toward a playoff push.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals rookie Cashius Howell made breakout predictions look great
