Bengals

The Bengals were eyeing DE Cashius Howell all along and there were even suggestions that they would have considered selecting him with the tenth overall pick before trading it to the Giants for DT Dexter Lawrence. Instead, they still got their man on Day Two of the draft in the second round.

“To get him there is huge,” Bengals scout Tyler Ramsey told Geoff Hobson. “We were already discussing him in the first round if we were able to move back, and maybe even if we got picked over at No. 10. That’s the kind of player we see him. He’s got so much speed, and he plays with such a violent edge. There’s not the prototype body, but it doesn’t affect him much. He’s a very physical guy and he has such an arsenal of pass rush moves for a guy coming out of college, you know the floor is low for him. He’s going to be disruptive, create pressure, and play extremely hard.”

Chiefs

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce said that he’s excited to see DE R Mason Thomas‘s physical traits in action and called him a “freak of nature.”

“The guy is a f—king freak of nature in terms of athleticism and explosiveness,” Kelce said, via PFT. “I can’t wait to see how this guy gets after the quarterback, man. It’s been kinda something that the Chiefs have been looking at to get better at. That’s getting after the QB and really putting quarterbacks under duress. Obviously, we’ve always had Chris Jones there, and George [Karlaftis] is a f—king workhorse. . . . I think this is going to be a game-changer at the edge position.”

Titans 

• Regarding the Titans’ first-round pick, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes that Tennessee would’ve considered taking DE David Bailey at No. 4 overall if he fell to them as an outright selection or in a trade-back scenario. 
• The Titans wound up taking WR Carnell Tate, who Fowler writes was ahead of Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles on their draft board.
• One source told Fowler that Reese’s positional uncertainty as an off-ball linebacker or edge rusher was a factor in Tennessee’s decision, while another source insisted that the Titans flat-out had a higher rating for Tate and assumed he wouldn’t fall past No. 7. 
• In the end, Fowler writes that Tennessee was comfortable with finding defensive players later in the draft and felt the top-end receiver market was stronger than other position groups.