No single player on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - not even fellow rookie Ted Hurst - was getting half the hype that Rueben Bain Jr. was soaking up through the offseason, training camp, and the preseason. He was destroying fools on the practice field and then translating that into joint practices and preseason games, making it look crazy that people thought he was not worth a top 10 pick due to concerns over trivial things like short arms.
The Buccaneers were already laughing themselves to the bank and considering their horrendous pass rushing woes of the 2025 NFL regular season solved in one fell swoop with the stroke of Jason Licht's fingers during the 2026 NFL Draft.
But as talented as Bain Jr. is and as much as the Buccaneers faithful should still believe in him as a potential solution, the fans were served a harsh reminder to never let a hype train get too out of hand. Because Bain Jr. is a rookie, and he is a rookie changing positions slightly to fit Todd Bowles's scheme and trying to translate to a position that is actually extremely difficult to excel in as a rookie.
Rueben Bain Jr. isn't an immediate game changer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Most pass rushing prospects don't truly break out in the NFL until they are closer to Year 3, and they definitely don't often bust out for record days on their debuts. And Rueben Bain Jr. did not prove to be an exception at all against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL regular season.
The Bengals offensive line, even though it has been one of the worst in the entire league for years, held Bain to a blank slate of stats. He had just the one tackle with no sacks or pressures, and you could scarcely hear a peep from the former Miami Hurricanes superstar during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33-27 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Obviously, Bain Jr. was not even one of the top five reasons why the Buccaneers lost this game, but he didn't do a whole lot to help them win either. Joe Burrow did enough for the Bengals to prevail in front of their home fans at the PayCor Stadium, while Bain did nothing to make the Bucs pass rush look less anemic than it was last season.
Bain will have better days and is still growing, but, look, a game like this is a reminder that Bain is a rookie, and Bucs fans are going to have to treat him like one.
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