The Cincinnati Bengals drafted an undersized but highly productive pass rusher in the second round.

Cashius Howell is “only” 6-foot-2, but he has incredible bend and impressed Bengals scouts enough for them to take him with the 41st pick in the Draft.

Some saw the pick as a bit of a reach. The Bengals’ front office, though, sees it as incredible value.

“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,” said Tyler Ramsey, who joined Duke Tobin’s scouting staff last June. “That’s the kind of player we see him.”

While most are focused on the outstanding value the Bengals got late in the Draft, their scouts like the two earliest picks the most.

“I would have to say the biggest values were getting Cashius in the second round and a 6-3, almost 6-4 corner (Tacario Davis) in the third,” said Josh Hinch, who was added to the scouting team at the same time as Ramsey.

So if you needed any extra proof that trading for Dexter Lawrence was the right thing to do, here it is; they could’ve ended up with the very same player they got in the second round, but they wouldn’t have the best nose tackle in the game.