Howard Cross III went from intriguing camp story to long shot almost overnight.
A year ago, the Bengals were staring at a defensive tackle group that had fans asking what the plan even was. T.J.
Slaton’s free-agent arrival didn’t move the needle much, and B.J. Hill battled through a banged-up 2025 season.
The result was ugly: Cincinnati finished last in the NFL against the run, a problem that had been easy to spot from a distance.
Cross, an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame who played for Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden, managed to make the initial 53-man roster last year. But as a rookie, he never made much of a dent and spent time bouncing on and off the practice squad.
Now the path is far more crowded.
Cincinnati has brought in Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen and seventh-round pick Landon Robinson, turning what was once a thin spot into a much steeper competition. For Cross, that means the comfort of his Golden connection can only carry him so far.
His appeal has always been pretty clear: he’s an undersized pass-rush type from the interior. The issue is that Robinson brings a similar profile, and the rookie is viewed as a more explosive athlete. Even if Cross had run the 40 during the pre-draft process, the measurables line up closely with Robinson’s, while Robinson’s functional athleticism is said to resemble Bengals great Geno Atkins more closely.
The numbers that circulated around Cross during the draft process didn’t exactly help his case, either. Howard Cross III was listed as a DT prospect in the 2025 draft class with a 4.69 RAS out of 10.00, a mark that ranked 1075 out of 2022 defensive tackles from 1987 to 2025.
And Cross isn’t just battling the newcomers. The Bengals are also likely to keep giving their 2024 Day 2 picks Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson every chance to secure roster spots before turning to someone like him. Both players still have work to do, but they’ve done more so far and figure to get the first crack at live reps in training camp and the preseason.
That leaves Cross in a tough spot. When opportunities come, he probably won’t get many, and he may need to be excellent every time he steps on the field.
If not, this could end as more than a simple move to the practice squad. A departure from Cincinnati is on the table.
None of that means Cross doesn’t belong in the league. It does mean losing Golden as his biggest backer would matter.
Last offseason, he was one of the more interesting names to watch. This year, the Bengals’ more aggressive approach up front is exposing just how rough the defensive tackle situation really was - and how unforgiving the roster battle has become.
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