CINCINNATI — The Bengals are not messing around with their intent to overhaul their defense.
After a free agency period that saw them add safeties Bryan Cook and Kyle Dugger, tackle Jonathan Allen and edge Boye Mafe and a pre-draft trade shocker in Dexter Lawrence, the Bengals spent their first two picks of the 2026 draft Friday on a the SEC defensive player of the year and a 6-4 rangy corner that brings comparisons to Sauce Gardner.
This 2026 NFL Draft represents a definitive, high-stakes pivot toward total defensive transformation. By selecting Texas A&M edge rusher Cashius Howell in the second round (No. 41) and Washington cornerback Tacario Davis in the third (No. 72), the front office has signaled that the bend-but-don’t-break philosophy of the past has been replaced by a “modern-length-and-lethality” blueprint.
These picks are not isolated events; they are the exclamation points on an offseason where the Bengals traded their first-round pick for All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and signed Pro Bowlers Boye Mafe and Jonathan Allen. Taking Howell and Davis in the premium rounds proves that even after spending massive capital in free agency, Cincinnati is unwilling to stop until their defense is rebuilt from the studs up.
In the second round, the Bengals broke their own historical mold by taking Cashius Howell. Typically, Cincinnati favors “traditional” edge defenders with elite length and 270-plus pound frames. At 6’2” and 253 pounds with 30 1/4-inch arms, Howell is a distinct physical outlier for the franchise. However, his selection underscores a commitment to correcting a specific failure: the inability to generate pressure without blitzing. Howell was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous All-American, recording 11.5 sacks and a 28.8% win rate on true pass sets. His 1.58-second 10-yard split—the fastest for a DL prospect since Will Anderson Jr.—gives the Bengals a “designated pass-rush” weapon they simply haven’t had. By pairing Howell with fellow former Aggie Shemar Stewart (the team’s 2025 first-round pick), the Bengals have created a specialized, high-twitch rotation designed to harass the elite quarterbacks of the AFC North.
“We’re fired up to add Cashius Howell to our pass rush — add a lot of juice here in the second round on top of what we did with the Dexter Lawrence trade,” assistant GM Mike Potts said. “Obviously, it gives us a lot of guys up front to really fortify our defense. We’re fired up about what Cashius is going to bring in terms of the pass rush. We like his physicality and his instincts in the run game as well. We couldn’t be more fired up. He’s a guy we had targeted throughout the process, and we did a lot of work on him throughout this whole spring. We couldn’t be more fired up right now… In my opinion, it’s a great question because we have different body types there now. Shemar (Stewart) and Myles (Murphy) are probably in a similar mold (to him). He’s maybe a little bit closer to Boye (Mafe). I think the quick wins he can give us as a rusher are really dynamic. His arsenal of rush tools and moves that he has … I don’t want to speak for anybody else, but I thought they were second to none in this draft class.”
“I think he’s very similar to Boye in that vein,” defensive coordinator Al Golden said. “For us, we did so much work. The guys upstairs did an incredible job in terms of ranking our board, and he was far and away the highest guy that we had. I couldn’t believe he kept falling to us to be honest with you. We couldn’t have been more thrilled when he was there for us. (He’s a) dynamic pass rusher (with) great production … not average production — great production. (He’s a) motor guy. He can play 4-2 edge, can play outside ’backer if you go to five down or bigger people. He showed proficiency with the ability to drop (into coverage). (He) can play special teams. This is a multi-faceted athlete and a really, really twitched-up guy.”
If Howell represents the commitment to pass-rush “juice,” third-round pick Tacario Davis represents the commitment to schematic versatility. Standing nearly 6’4” with a massive 81-inch wingspan—the largest among all defensive backs at the 2026 Combine—Davis is a “freak” profile. Defensive coordinator Al Golden explicitly stated, “We wanted length… and we targeted length with this pick”. Davis is not a finished product; he struggles with fluid hip transitions against smaller receivers, but his 4.41 speed and frame make him “impossible to throw over” when he’s in phase downfield. This pick shows the Bengals are moving toward a secondary that can disrupt timing at the line of scrimmage, a necessary evolution after ranking 30th in points allowed during the 2025 season.
“We love cover guys,” assistant general manager Trey Brown said. “Tacario Davis in the third round here is an outstanding pick for us. He’s a guy that we targeted through the draft process. When you look at big, long, athletic corners that can absolutely fly, he checked the box. We felt good about going through the process with him about having a guy on the outside that has high, high upside as a press corner, that can play man- to-man with elite receivers in this league. We feel that we got an outstanding prospect, and we were definitely excited to get him off the board there.
“When you look back, he’s somebody that actually played a lot of ball in terms of (he) started at Arizona and then
transferred to Washington. He came in and played right away. They probably just threw him out on the fire in terms of high-end athletic
traits and then (he’s) somebody that over his career has gotten better and better and better. We feel like, with our staff, with Al’s vision
for the guy, he was the perfect fit.”
How versatile is Davis? Can he play inside?
“I think Trey already hit on it, but when you get these sized guys on the perimeter, they also give you matchups,” Golden said. “If you’re playing a (D.K.) Metcalf or you’re playing some of the more athletic tight ends in the league, he can matchup inside as well on third down. It gives you a lot of versatility. We did it with Trey Flowers the last time I was here for some more athletic tight ends, but he just gives us great versatility — an excelling press/jam player (with) lateral quickness and the long speed to match.”
This draft strategy reflects a team that was tired of watching its defensive statistics crater. In 2025, the Bengals’ defense was one of the league’s most porous units:
Points Against 30th 28.9 per game
Yards Allowed 31st 382.0 per game
Defensive DVOA 29th 25.2%
By using their highest available 2026 picks on Howell and Davis after acquiring Lawrence, Mafe, and Allen, the Bengals have effectively replaced nearly 60% of their defensive starters in a single offseason. They are no longer waiting for mid-round projects like Joseph Ossai or Cam Sample to develop into cornerstones; they are buying and drafting immediate, elite traits to ensure that the 2026 defense can finally support Joe Burrow’s championship window.
1 (via Trade) Dexter Lawrence DT Elite Interior Gravity
2 (No. 41) Cashius Howell EDGE SEC-Leading Explosiveness
3 (No. 72) Tacario Davis CB Rare Height/Wingspan
The commitment is undeniable: the Bengals have spent more on their defense in the last four months than in almost any other period in franchise history. Howell and Davis are the final pieces of a puzzle designed to turn a 31st-ranked unit into a fearsome, modern powerhouse.
