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Cashius Howell of the Texas A&M Aggies.

The most important position for the Cincinnati Bengals heading into the NFL Draft seemed to be linebacker, however the Bengals elected not to go that direction.

Zach Taylor gave insight into the reason saying,

“We’ll have those conversations now that the draft is over,” Taylor said. “It’s one of those situations where there is value at other positions that we didn’t want to pass up. Linebackers before you got a chance to get the next guy that you would have wanted. That’s the way the draft always goes. That’s how free agency goes sometimes. We do have a lot of belief in the room that we have so those guys will continue to compete and if we do something after the draft that remains to be seen.”

Experts Believe Bengals Have Done Enough

The 2025-2026 Bengals defense was one of the worst in the NFL, ranking 30th out of 32 teams in points allowed, allowing an average of 28.9 points per game. The defense received some much- needed reinforcements as well with the Bengals adding Dexter Lawrence in a pre-draft trade and using three draft picks on defensive players.

Even with these additions Ben Baby is still slightly concerned about the lack of linebackers,

“Cincinnati still has not made a major addition in the middle of its defense. Bengals assistant GM Steve Radicevic said that’s the way free agency and the board fell, despite having linebackers queued up,” wrote Baby.

“But it’s a sign the Bengals believe Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter will continue to improve, especially after Cincinnati added defensive tackles Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen this offseason.”

Richard Skinner of WKRC believes the Bengals did enough to bolster the struggling defense,

“It has been clear this offseason that the Bengals were trying to make the defensive line a major team strength and it is really deep. The potential starters at ends are Mafe and 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy, with 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart and Howell competing for snaps and playing at worst in a rotational role. Lawrence filled a huge need at nose tackle and will probably make TJ Slaton a salary cap cut, while the tackles opposite Lawrence are veteran BJ Hill and Allen with 2024 second-round pick Kris Jenkins also in the mix,” wrote Skinner.

“The one thing the Bengals haven’t done this offseason is address linebacker and for now seem ready to move forward with second-year players Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter, who both started as rookies and struggled. Behind them is veteran Oren Burks, who has primarily been a backup and special teams player in his career and very little proven talent.”

Replacing Hendrickson

This offseason the Bengals lost Trey Hendrickson to free agency, Hendrickson signed with division rivals Baltimore Ravens. Since 2023 Hendrickson has 39.0 sacks, third-most in the NFL.

He led the league with 35 sacks over 2023-24 and became one of five players in NFL history with 17-plus sacks in consecutive campaigns.

The Bengals drafted defensive end, Cashius Howell out of Texas A&M, in an attempt to make up for some of Hendrickson’s production.