We continue our 2026 NFL Draft preview of draft prospects that could interest the Dallas Cowboys. Today we are looking at Texas A&M edge defender Cashius Howell
OLB
Texas A&M
Senior
3-star recruit
6’2”
253 lbs
Howell’s first college season in 2021 was a redshirt season in Bowling Green and he appeared in four games, making his debut against Murray State, recording six tackles.
In his season in 2022 at Bowling Green he played all 13 games and began showing his skills. He finished the year with 22 tackles, 2.5 TFL, two sacks, and a fumble recovery.
2023 was the breakout year that put him on the national radar. He appeared in all games with 11 starts and finished tied for the MAC lead with 9.5 sacks (16th-most nationally) on his way to third-team All-MAC. He had several standout moments that year and in his first career start against Ohio he got his first strip-sack, and logged multiple multi-sack games (Akron, Kent State, Toledo).
In 2024, he transferred making his first appearance at Texas A&M. He played in all 13 games and produced across the stat sheet. His defining welcome to the SEC moment came in the Las Vegas Bowl against USC, making his first for the Aggies, where he filled it up with a sack and an interception. The full-season totals had him at 40 tackles, four sacks, one interception.
Then came 2025 where it was a full-on star season. He became one of the SEC’s defining pass rushers, finishing with 11.5 sacks and earning SEC Defensive Player of the Year recognition. The year’s biggest highlight clip came in Week 2 against Utah State, when he recorded three consecutive sacks on three consecutive plays, a rare feat that earned him SEC weekly honors and national headlines. Later, he added another monster performance versus Mississippi State with three more sacks, and became the first Aggie to post multiple three-sack games in a season since Von Miller (2009).
591 Defensive Snaps
41 Total Pressures
2 QB Hits
31 Total Tackles
14 TFL
12 Sacks
6 PBU
1 FF
5 Penalties
B-Gap- 0%
C-Gap- 0%
OLB- 97%
2025: SEC Defensive Player of the Year
2025: First-Team All-SEC
2025: First-Team All-American
2023: Third-Team All-MAC
Overall– 85.4
Speed- 91
Acceleration- 88
Agility- 90
Strength- 81
Tackling- 79
Run Defense- 70
Pass Rush- 95
Coverage- 61
Discipline- 85
- Elite first step and get-off.
- Consistently beats tackles out of their stance and forces protections to widen.
- Natural ankle flexibility and hip bend to turn tight angles.
- Wins with more than just speed, his inside spin is a real weapon, and his cross-chop, rip, speed-to-power show up consistently.
- Smart rush plan and sets up moves.
- Multiple seasons of pressure and sack output.
- Plays with violence and tenacity.
- Hot motor really shows up on extended reps and late in games.
- Easily converts momentum into a pocket-compression.
- Closing burst and pursuit speed is excellent.
- Good at getting his hands up to tip.
- Can roll hips and use leverage to set a defined edge.
- Short arms and limited length for an NFL Edge defender.
- Run-defense anchor is inconsistent.
- Can be displaced by power.
- Holding up snap after snap against heavy hands and doubles is still a question.
- Can get stalled if his first move is absorbed. He isn’t always able to re-load and win late when tackles sit on his initial speed or stop his hips.
- Occasionally overruns which can open up quarterback escape lanes.
- Tackling in space isn’t a strength.
- Role-specific projection as some teams will view him as a rush-first OLB who needs protection.
Howell fits best as a rush-first 3-4 outside linebacker or hybrid EDGE in an aggressive, pressure-heavy defense that lets him live on the edge in wide alignments, attack with speed-to-power and counters, and occasionally reduce inside over guards on passing downs to exploit matchups.
Howell is basically an explosive, bendy sack-artist with real rush craft, but with size, length, and strength thresholds that will shape how teams use him. He consistently wins with a fast first step, flexibility to turn tight angles, and a legit move set that shows he’s not just an athlete freelancing. His efficiency and production numbers are insane to look at, making him one of the most valuable edge defenders in this year’s class.
Where the ‘but’ comes in is his build. His 30 1/4” arms are very short for the position and his overall frame is on the smaller side, so play strength and anchor versus power runs will knock him down the board. The clean NFL projection is a rush-first OLB who should be featured in wide alignments, stunt packages, and sub fronts where his burst and bend can attack tackles’ edges and his inside counters can punish oversets, while his early-down run workload is managed until he proves he can consistently hold up versus NFL displacement.
CONSENSUS OVERALL RANKING
26th
(Consensus ranking based on the average ranking from 90 major scoring services, including BTB)
