The Tampa Bay Buccaneers filled their most dire need in the 2026 NFL Draft in the best way possible, landing former Miami Hurricanes edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. with the No. 15 overall pick, taking advantage of perhapst the most surprising downward slide of this year's draft class.
Because Bain had Miami flirting with the National Championship in an incredible season, establishing himself as one of the most dominant forces in all of college football on either side of the ball. And with his production, explosiveness, and nasty edge, Buccaneers fans are not one bit worried about his short arms, which feel like the sort of red herring that gifted Tampa Bay Bain in the first place.
Nobody is even mentioning Trey Hendrickson and Maxx Crosby now, and the Bain Train has already left the station. Bucs fans are beyond hyped for Bain Jr., and in the early minicamp stages, the outside linebacker is impressing everyone with his athleticism.
Rueben Bain Jr. is a special athlete
Just recently, Pewter Report provided video of the rookie pass rusher actually dropping back into coverage, showing off that fluid athleticism that made the Miami product one of the biggest blue chip prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft class.
Rueben Bain Jr. looks quite at home flipping his hips and dropping back, and while the Buccaneers went for players who are nasty and bring that fight and dog to them to a Todd Bowles defense that was pretty lifeless during the collapse last season, a lot of people are forgetting that the Bucs also picked up guys who are really versatile in terms of the number of things they can do well, such as Bain's Miami Hurricanes teammate Keionte Scott in the Buccaneers defensive backfield.
You don't usually think of pass coverage as being a key trait or a remote reason for a team valuing an edge rusher highly, but those zone blitzes and the ability to provide that versatility to pick up running backs or tight ends from an outside linebacker is actually pretty huge, especially in terms of creating chaos and even turnovers by making the defense unpredictable.
James Harrison was one of the best defensive players of all time for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he did way more than just rush the passer. He put his athleticism to use on those Dick LeBeau zone blitzes for the Steelers defense, memorably picking off that pass in the Super Bowl against the Arizona Cardinals. Maybe Bowles and the Bucs are planning on giving Bain that chance to shine there, too.
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