The Cincinnati Bengals gutted out a 43-36 overtime win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 8, but it came at a severe cost. Rookie second-round pick Cashius Howell suffered a wrist injury that required surgery.
While the Bengals avoided disaster with DJ Turner's heel injury being only day-to-day, head coach Zac Taylor announced, per The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr., that Howell will be out weeks and "trending" toward being played on injured reserve.
Howell had just recorded his first sack the week prior in the win at Baltimore. Now, his setback has radically altered the complexion of the defense.
Howell's lengthy absence will shake up Cincinnati's entire front seven
One of the ways Howell is valuable is that he can at least be a threat to drop in coverage when Al Golden runs simulated pressures. More often than not, though, Howell has been deployed as a pure designated pass rusher.
Howell is Boye Mafe's primary backup, so almost by necessity, Golden will need to get more creative with how he rotates his pieces on the front seven.
Mafe dropped in coverage on 10 snaps in Week 7 and could very well be doing that more in the games to come. It's not like Barrett Carter or Demetrius Knight Jr. are world beaters at linebacker, and getting more fresh bodies on the field to rush the passer in lieu of Howell should be a priority.
Last season as a rookie, Knight actually played a fair amount of snaps on the edge. Maybe the Bengals go to a base 4-3 sort of package more often, make Knight more of a hybrid guy, and get more snaps for another linebacker like Oren Burks or recent newcomer Jack Kiser.
This is why I have Eagles All-Pro Zack Baun just behind Taylor on my trade deadline big board, y'all.
We're likely to see a heavy dose of Cedric Johnson in Howell's stead beyond all that speculation. Johnson has shown some nice flashes but that's sort of offset by his 15-yard roughing the punter penalty that cost the Bengals a win in Pittsburgh.
We could see a sudden shift in the Bengals' trade deadline priorities
If the Bengals do make a splashy pre-trade deadline acquisition, it feels most likely that it'll be for a star running back like Jonathan Taylor or the guy who just shredded them in Week 8, Tony Pollard.
While Isaiah Foskey looms as a decent option on the practice squad, the defensive end group in Cincy is suddenly very thin. We can only really count on Johnson and Shemar Stewart to spell the likes of Mafe and Myles Murphy. Not a great place to be!
Granted, having Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, and even B.J. Hill at defensive tackle alleviates some of the burden. But still.
Could the 0-7 Chargers' potential fire sale net us Tuli Tuipulotu for a first- or second-round pick? I'd be down, especially with Murphy hitting free agency this coming offseason.
In lieu of a trade, it's now or never for Shemar Stewart
The Bengals should be looking outside the building for defensive end help. That is, unless Shemar Stewart can answer the bell. The 17th overall pick has allegedly been doing all the right things behind the scenes, yet here we are in his second season and he can't get meaningful playing time.
At least Stewart was, uh, active in Week 8. He logged only six snaps. With Howell out of the picture, you'd assume Stewart would get a lot more run.
We're about to find out a whole lot about Stewart in a hurry and where he's at in his development. He was just abysmal as a rookie, and I know injuries played some part in that, but he didn't look anywhere close to a starting-caliber NFL player. Suboptimal for a mid-first-rounder, eh?
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