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
Jason Licht is great at drafting most positions.
He is horrible at drafting Defensive line.
He has wasted so much high draft capitol, it’s appalling.
Noah Spence, Joe Tryon, Cris Braswell, Logan Hall, Calijah Kancey.
Even worse, the laughable signing of Randy Gregory and Last years Flop, Hanson Reddick
But not this time
Bain will be a great Defensive linemen. He got this one right.
Elijah Roberts may pan out as a decent linemen, also
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.
May 24th, 2026 at 10:14 am
More fuel to his fire….trust me namby panmby’s….cant wait to see the first guy he clocks!!!!
May 24th, 2026 at 10:15 am
The BUCS have had their fair share of tweeners over the years. Mark Barron and Ron Holmes pop into mind off the bat. David Logan pops into mind as an guy who was considered to small to play nose guard at 250 lbs, but he was pretty darn good.
May 24th, 2026 at 10:15 am
I remember 55 was viewed as a “tweener”.
May 24th, 2026 at 10:24 am
Kancey is a tweeter too, but he’d get ten sacks a year if he could stay healthy. I bet he does this year.
JTS was a perfect physical specimen for an edge rusher. Hall was perfect 3-4 end. But no fire!
May 24th, 2026 at 10:25 am
‘tweener
May 24th, 2026 at 10:25 am
Can’t wait to see some of the personnel combinations of the D-Line.
We can slide Bain in over an offensive guard on 5-man front with AQM/Walker to the outside of him or vice versa. Some combo of Vita/A’Shawn/Capheart/Kancey/Roberts inside w/Yaya on the opposite side.
Run some stunt/loop games.
Bain played inside plenty in 2024 for the Canes and excelled. The tweener status might have been of putting for some times, but that’s right up our ally for what we do with our fronts.
May 24th, 2026 at 10:25 am
Can’t wait to see some of the personnel combinations of the D-Line.
We can slide Bain in over an offensive guard on 5-man front with AQM/Walker to the outside of him or vice versa. Some combo of Vita/A’Shawn/Capheart/Kancey/Roberts inside w/Yaya on the opposite side.
Run some stunt/loop games.
Bain played inside plenty in 2024 for the Canes and excelled. The tweener status might have been of putting for some times, but that’s right up our ally for what we do with our fronts.
May 24th, 2026 at 10:31 am
Brooks was a tweener too and he turned out pretty good. So did that guy who dropped in the first round. Sapp was his name. So Bain combined the two in the draft. Hope he continues to……
May 24th, 2026 at 10:39 am
Bain reminds me of Brandon Graham…
6’1″ and a half – 268 lbs.
He had a very solid NFL career.
May 24th, 2026 at 11:06 am
WTF…Drafting is not a science. 20+ teams passed on Warren Sapp! Retrospective analysis is BS. Our Pro Bowl left tackle was the fifth offensive lineman chosen. Brady was chosen in the 6th round. All this paralyzing analysis is just NOISE! How about rooting for Bain to succeed. That would be a novel approach.
May 24th, 2026 at 11:32 am
Well our GM has made multiple first and second round blunders and is still around as the Glazer’s continue their march to mediocrity.
May 24th, 2026 at 11:44 am
6.ft3 265 lbs… as tweener? Looklike James Harrison to me.
May 24th, 2026 at 11:44 am
Buddha, 11 teams passed on Sapp but point taken. The eagles, who had a huge need for defensive line help and seemed certain to take Sapp, passed on him for Mike mamula. Mamula had a decent college career but blew up at the combine and with the rumors about sapp… They went with what they felt was the safer pick.
May 24th, 2026 at 11:58 am
OLDSCHOOL1976 Says
“If DC Bowels can use him correctly then it will be good. But we all know that is a 50/50.”
I have a feeling he will use him right…but if he doesn’t and the team doesn’t do well as a result… it’s only for a year.
If Mike Tomlin replaces him, he’ll know how to use him…and Tomlin has never had a losing season.
May 24th, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Steven007, how did Mamula end up doing as a result? Do you know?
May 24th, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Right on Buda,,All you heard before the draft was edge ,edge ,edge, now they picked a guy that has short arms that fell to far in the draft,Bowles won’t know how to use him….The people on here are pathetic constant complaining, I feel sorry for the spouse’s
May 24th, 2026 at 12:28 pm
Noah Spence? Everyone was applauding that move getting him in the 2nd round. If Capt. Tim is suggesting that he despised that pick up, well he is just rewriting history.
And Spence then got a labrum tear from the 1st year with the Bucs which was a good year for him on the Bucs.
He never came back from the Labrum tear — it affected his ability to tackle. A big reason that I did not want us to draft Jihaad Campbell last year with the same issue.
May 24th, 2026 at 1:21 pm
Anyone who thinks Bain is a “tweener” is clueless. The guy is a old school pass rusher who plays the run as well as rush the passer. He’s a game wrecker.
Can Bain play inside? Sure. But just watch his tape when on the edge and the guy wins with speed, bend and power.
Tweener..pffft.
May 24th, 2026 at 1:26 pm
Bain would be a better fit as a 4-3 DE than a 3-4 OLB in my opinion.
But we are terrible at drafting edge rushers, so I’m not surprised we picked him for our 3-4 defense.
May 24th, 2026 at 3:04 pm
Same reason why Aaron Donald fell to 13th
May 24th, 2026 at 3:55 pm
Clearly, some of you people commenting are idiots. Jason Licht is not “terrible at drafting”. As a team, there have been things that we have drafted well and things we have not. We used to be terrible at running backs. We have had a pretty good hit rate lately. We are one of the best in the league at picking OL. We suck at drafting quarterbacks. We have always been good at drafting receivers. ETC. There isn’t a team in the league that doesn’t mess it up from time to time. If Licht gets punted its going to come from 2 things – renewing Todd Bowles and renewing some of the players for top money that seem to get “bored”.
Drafting ? I would say that we are top third or a little higher. Just my opinion.
May 24th, 2026 at 5:00 pm
Erik with Clean Athletics … ‘Bain would be a better fit as a 4-3 DE than a 3-4 OLB in my opinion. But we are terrible at drafting edge rushers, so I’m not surprised we picked him for our 3-4 defense.’
Todd Bowles defense will use Bain as both a 4-3 DE and a 3-4 OLB. We don’t JUST play a 3-4; ours is & has been a ‘hybrid’ 3-4.
Obviously Rueben Bain was ‘raised’ in a 4-3 defense, but so was JPP and many others. And yet JPP had the physical ability, talent & desire to succeed in the 3-4. And so will Bain, although I still wish that folks would temper their expectations somewhat of what he’ll accomplish during his rookie year. Our OLBs average right around 2200 def snaps each season TOTAL among them, and Bain will be competing with probably 5 other OLBs for field time, covering a myriad of different scenarios.
Guys like Muhammad & Walker are pass rushers who’ll get some field time (and quite a bit if they do well). Others like Diaby & Nelson are very experienced, and both will be fighting to get a new 2027 contract; they won’t roll over without a fight when it comes to field time. And BTW, neither will Chris Brasswell. He plays the run very well, and Bowles puts a premium on that.
May 24th, 2026 at 5:02 pm
Whatevs,
Take away the Super Bowl” is exactly what bitter loser fanbases say because they’ve never seen one.
Jason Licht built a ring-winning roster, kept Tampa Bay Buccaneers relevant after Tom Brady left, and stacked the roster with All-Pros — while you’re crying about imaginary 5-12 seasons every May like a seasonal depression episode.
At this point your predictions have a worse hit rate than your football takes.
May 24th, 2026 at 6:07 pm
The #1 name comes to my mind is Adrian Claiborne.
May 24th, 2026 at 6:43 pm
Whatevs is clearly not a Bucs fan. Lots of those around here for no apparent reason.
May 24th, 2026 at 8:58 pm
He has outlier short arms for a DE. That’s why he fell. He’s a really good player and that’s why he was drafted higher than a player with his arm length would be drafted.
May 24th, 2026 at 9:02 pm
Erick not surprised we picked him ?WTF?
May 24th, 2026 at 9:04 pm
“Obviously Rueben Bain was ‘raised’ in a 4-3 defense, but so was JPP and many others“
Coach Cristobal runs a 4-2-5 base, whomever their 3rd ILB was didn’t get as many reps as Keionte Scott. Bain spent 2 of 3 years at The U with coach Cristobal
May 24th, 2026 at 10:18 pm
Bonsai, mamula had a decent career. But not a top 10 first round draft pick career. Which is obvious when they passed on a Hall of famer.
May 25th, 2026 at 12:16 am
Bain is gonna be really good still on the high from the draft can’t wait until the season starts.
May 25th, 2026 at 6:34 pm
Table/End tweeter?????
He is 6’2” in the 260s. Tackle? Ridiculous.