24 Players in 24 Days: #20 Cashius Howell

Position: Linebacker
Classification: Junior
Hometown: Kansas City, Mo. (Bowling Green)
Listed Height: 6-4
Listed Weight: 235 lbs.

Key notes from Liucci’s thoughts on Howell

• The biggest thing, and certainly not the only thing, for a team with a lot of power and pass rushers like Nic Scourton, Shemar Stewart, DJ Hicks and Shemar Turner, what you are looking for too is some twitch, bend, flexibility and length out there on the edge. Cashius Howell is an edge guy who is pretty proven.
   
• I know it’s the Mid-American Conference, but Mike Elko made a great point about it the other day. They’re watching him play college football against other NFL guys in the MAC and in non-conference. Cashius Howell proved that he should be playing at this level.
   
• They got two guys that led their conferences in sacks last season. Want to upgrade your pass rushers? Alright, let’s add the Big Ten and MAC sack leaders to the team. Cashius Howell is a guy that has played a lot of college football. You’re looking at almost 800 career snaps at the college level.
   
• What used to be young guys are now guys who have played a lot of college football. You have a ton of experience now to go with that talent.
   
• I think what you are looking for, and not to say that Howell can’t play in early downs, but Cashius Howell is that second or third-down guy that can get to a quarterback and end a drive. When defenses have problems, it is when they can’t get off the field. You have to have stoppers. Speeding that quarterback up, creating turnovers, sacks on first and second down to kill drives, and all those things start with the guys up front.
   
• Obviously, Elko and his blitzes can cause major problems for his opponents. Dominance up front and a third down presence on the edge, which I think you’ll get a combination of. 
   
• I think Cashius Howell can be the kind of guy who can get past you in a flash, and then the drive is over. That is what he could mean to this defense.
   
• I think they did an amazing job in the portal, and I think they did an amazing job in retention. They didn’t lose much. You lost a starting receiver and a starting defensive lineman, and both of those guys’ potential is 10 out of 10. They flashed it here. You wish it was here, but you move on.
   
• You look at what they added in the portal, and there could be a half dozen starters from the portal that they brought in.