Rueben Bain Was Viewed As A “Tweener” By Other Teams
May 24th, 2026
Why he fell.
The NFL is a risk-averse league. And Joe gets it.
For example: It’s really, really easy for any fan to holler that the Bucs ought to trade draft picks for a player, or that the Bucs should pick Player-X with a first-round pick. But if the move doesn’t work, do fans risk getting run from a multi-million dollar job over it? No, but a general manager might.
Risk aversion may very well have been the reason why Rueben Bain fell to the Bucs at No. 15.
Charlie Campbell of Walter Football called his NFL sources to ask why Bain fell to the Bucs since just about everyone thought he was a top-10 pick, maybe better.
Campbell found out many general managers picking ahead of the Bucs were either spooked by Bain’s profile of not neatly fitting as a defensive end or a defensive tackle, and yes, the dreaded short arms.
In short (not in arms), NFL shot-callers with the top-14 picks weren’t willing to get into hot water with their owners over Bain.
Sources from multiple teams provided some differing reasons. One, a few sources felt that Bain slid just because of the team’s need and preference in the top 14. Sources from a couple of teams that passed on Bain said they had him a bit lower than the media consensus. During the season, we [heard] some teams saw him as a tackle/end tweener, and they did not see him as a true top-10 talent. Those factors combined to have Bain go lower than the media expected.
Just after the draft, Dull Patrick interviewed ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick, the former Eagles suit, and Patrick wanted to know how in the world Bain could fall to the Bucs.
Riddick essentially said what Campbell typed: general managers are loathe to take gambles.
If they ignore data — and NFL owners are generally data people reared in the business world — and then they could face an enraged owner wanting to know why the general manager ignored intel and threw away millions of the owner’s money.
There are only 32 jobs titles of GM in the world of the NFL, Riddick noted, and general managers won’t deliberately grease the wheels for their owners to run them.
May 24th, 2026 at 8:04 am
You mean like JTS or Hall?
May 24th, 2026 at 8:25 am
It was the accident but higher ups can’t say that. The articles came out in just the right time for Bain to be had at 15. Makes you wonder if that was intentional. It seemed like a no brainer pick for Bucs while a Lemon trade was taking place in the background.
May 24th, 2026 at 8:27 am
Another Licht Loser. Either JL constantly thinks he is smarter than the others and picks these “gems” that no other GMs can find, or he is just terrible at drafting.
Since only 2 out of his 70ish picks since being GM have turned into perennial pro bowlers or game changing players, I will go with he is just bad at drafting.
Take away the SB year and the Bucs have been mediocre. Can’t wait for a 5-12 season and club seats going for 25.00 at gametime in December.
May 24th, 2026 at 8:28 am
Jevon Kearse fell in the draft to 16 where the Titans selected him, 1 pic after the Bucs select Booger. Despite being the sec player of the year, teams did not know where to play him, positionally. He was dominate as a rookie and elevated the Titans to who would eventually lose to the Rams in Super Bowl.
May 24th, 2026 at 8:30 am
Really don’t care about the reasons for the drop, we got a top player at a position of need. And he’s pissed. Works for me.
May 24th, 2026 at 9:04 am
If DC Bowels can use him correctly then it will be good. But we all know that is a 50/50. He now has 3 players he can move around his defense with Tykee Scott and Bain. NO Excuses for him now, it best be a much better defensive team or he gets fired
May 24th, 2026 at 9:08 am
Well said, Front four.
Go Bucs!!
May 24th, 2026 at 9:15 am
Perfect combination of the auto accident situation coming to light (Licht?) – and ramped up pre-draft chatter about ‘historically’ short arms is what allowed the Bucs to snatch Bain like he snatched that hat at #15.
Maybe Jason was pushing those narratives behind the scenes hoping they would grow legs – if so, that was some 3D chess he played on some weaker minded teams to get that desperately needed stud pass rusher.
I’m pretty sure the plan going into rd 1 was to draft Mesidor – hopefully after a smallish trade down – but if they were stuck at 15 they were still taking Mesidor I believe…. so it will be interesting to see how Mesidor’s career unfolds compared to Bain’s.
May 24th, 2026 at 9:21 am
Im very happy with the pick go bucs
May 24th, 2026 at 9:24 am
I heard on either the Jay Recher or Rick Stroud podcast that the Lions were furiously trying to trade up with the Ravens to get Bain at 14 but their offer was not good enough so Baltimore took the Penn State Guard. If this report is true, other teams had their eye on Bain as well.
May 24th, 2026 at 9:28 am
@Whatevs,
Licht is usually viewed as one of the top ten GMs by other NFL execs.
That you’ve essentially declared Bain a bust before a single game is one of the most absurd takes here on JoeBucsFan, and that’s saying something.
By the way, nine of the players drafted by Licht have made the Pro Bowl, and six of those have been All-Pro. Multiple players he drafted have a good chance of making the Hall of Fame, including Evans and Wirfs.
May 24th, 2026 at 9:35 am
Can you imagine if the Bucs were able to slide Bain inside and bring in Muhammad at OLB?
Diaby, Kancey, Vea, Bain and Muhammad rushing the passer – that just sounds nasty…
May 24th, 2026 at 9:37 am
Well he is !
But….
May 24th, 2026 at 9:38 am
Bowels is a tweener HC …
May 24th, 2026 at 9:45 am
If the Glazers didn’t can him for some of his wonky earlier draft moves (a kicker in the 2nd round comes to mind) I think they’ll be ok with him taking a shot on arguably the best player in the draft at arguably the Bucs biggest position of need. If ever there was a “don’t overthink this one!” moment it was for Licht using #15 on Bain.
May 24th, 2026 at 9:50 am
The man is from the U. He has a lot of pride and is pissed about dropping to 15. He is going to ball out just like Sapp. Wait and see.
May 24th, 2026 at 9:53 am
JTS was GI Joe.
Perfect body. Extremely fast. But young. And not very strong.
He’s a very athletic OLB like Anthony Barr (Vikings tweener and 1st round pick)
But Anthony Barr was an OLB in a 4-3 defense.
JTS was an EDGE in à Bowles defense.
And an EDGE in Bowles defense must go mano a mano against HUGE offensive tackles in the NFL.
An EDGE in Bowles defense MUST be extremely strong and TOUGH to handle the beating of going one on one with NFL offensive tackles.
JPP Ànd Yaya are perfect EDGE players for this defense.
Shaq was perfect bc he was also a great tackler like a MLB.
JTS just didn’t fit this scheme because he wasn’t strong enough to push tackles back.
May 24th, 2026 at 9:56 am
Bain will be great as an EDGE in this defense.
Why?
Because he has huge legs and is extremely strong and tough.
He will wear down offensive tackles because he has great stamina and he will smash their faces on every snap.
My game plan?
Wear down of offensive tackles in quarters 1-3.
And get lots of sacks in the 4th quarter.