Bengals defense toeing fine line of jack-of-no-trades and versatility at OTAs

The Cincinnati Bengals have struggled to develop their defensive draft picks in recent years, and that's about as kindly as that reality can be stated. Whether they've learned from that will go a long way toward determining how the rest of the Joe Burrow era plays out.

Last year's first-round pick, Shemar Stewart, was a project to begin with, and was a colossal disappointment as a rookie. His college teammate, Cashius Howell, was the Bengals' second-rounder/ first player off the board for them after they traded the 10th overall selection for Dexter Lawrence.

OTAs are providing an early glimpse into how Stewart and Howell may be deployed in 2026. It's somewhat intriguing; more concerning.

Bengals' usage of Cashius Howell and Shemar Stewart should raise some eyebrows

A most astute observation from WLWT sports anchor Jaron May came with the caveat of coming at over a quarter-year out from the regular season, yet it was somewhat alarming all the same:

So let me get this straight: Stewart has 4.5 sacks in three years at Texas A&M, flops as a rookie, and now Cincinnati is trying to play him out of position?

And as for Howell, he has historically short arms for an edge defender. Defensive coordinator Al Golden suggested he'd play a hybrid linebacker role right after the draft. To me, that came across as more of a subpackage type of deal, with Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter as the base starters.

Howell is at his best as a pure designated pass rusher off the edge. Sure, his explosiveness and size could be a fit as an off-ball linebacker, but that projection is purely hypothetical.

Now, if we're talking about simulated pressures, bringing Howell in as an attacking blitzer, or stunting from, say, a double-mug look, then shoot, sign me up. However, that's quite the hyper-specialized niche, and there should be concerns about what it means for his long-term development.

And I mean Shemar Stewart needs as much stability, steady experience, technique work, and reps as he can get. Deploying him at multiple positions almost feels shoehorned in, as if the coaching staff and scouting department are in cahoots to try to justify spending the 17th overall pick on him in 2025.

It may just be that Stewart ain't that good, or can't capitalize on his literal-historic athleticism. Would love to be wrong about that, by the way!

Let's maybe just cling to the following: Howell is being cross-trained because he's so far ahead of the curve already, participating in the offseason program despite not yet signing his rookie deal. He learned the right lesson from Stewart's fiasco. In Shemar's case, hang onto the following words from Boye Mafe for dear life.

Anywho, the Bengals are still in shorts, sans shoulder pads. Probably not worth overreacting too much to this OTA subplot. Nevertheless, I believed it wasn't worth overreacting in the preseason when Tanner McKee torched us, and we saw how that turned out...

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow