Even though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also needed an inside linebacker and had a few other key areas of need going into the 2026 NFL Draft after their awful regular season collapse, in terms of overall impact on games and improving their chances at contending for a Super Bowl, a lack of a true top edge rusher was clearly their No. 1 issue to address on draft day.
After balking on the chance to acquire Trey Hendrickson and Maxx Crosby, owing to their astronomical price tags, the Buccaneers were able to a hit home run with the No. 15 overall pick in Miami Hurricanes product Rueben Bain Jr., widely regarded as one of the top five prospects in the class overall.
Bain Jr. is a sensational edge rusher whose college productivity and athleticism are difficult to question, though his shot arms are seen as a weakness. But for many fans and analysts, the picking on his arm length is seen as anchoring on a negative just to be negative.
Rueben Bain Jr. is Todd Bowles' pass rushing solution
Whatever the case, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed a player like Rueben Bain Jr. to add to this defense. His body of work in helping Miami reach the National Championship almost speaks for itself, and from Day 1, he is expected to be the No. 1 pass rusher in Tampa Bay, with the benefit of giving the previous top guy YaYa Diaby, more room to get after the quarterback.
Todd Bowles has had a lot of issues with coaching this Buccaneers defense despite being touted as a defensive guru, and he, especially, had trouble developing and finding the right pass rushers for this team. Diaby, for example, hasn't quite reached expectations under Bowles.
So having a prospect like Bain Jr. fall into Tampa Bay's laps with the 15th overall pick in this year's draft could be the ready made answer for Bowles, who doesn't even need to think or do anything on his own to benefit greatly from the quality Bain has to impact the entire defense.
The Los Angeles Rams, for example, just sat back and picked the Buccaneers defense apart without any sort of pass rusher for Matthew Stafford, the league MVP, to contend with. Now, if Bain Jr. is as advertised, Bowles has a great equalizer who opens everything up for him and is that pass rushing solution he couldn't really find or manufacture on his own last season.
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