“We Would All Be Disappointed If He’s Not A Double-Digit Sack Guy”
August 28th, 2026
The hype for Buccaneers rookie edge rusher Rueben Bain is nearly a runaway train situation.
So much is being put on the Miami Mauler edge rusher’s back.
Joe almost feels sorry for Bain. Because the Buccaneers’ edge rush has been so damn miserable for years, Bain expectations are through the roof. That’s unfair.
The NFL has had several Hall of Fame caliber edge rushers that came nowhere near double-digit sacks as rookies. For example, Michael Strahan had 1 sack as a rookie, equal to Cameron Jordan’s rookie campaign. All-Pro edge rusherWill Anderson of the Texans had 7 sacks as a rookie. Myles Garrett stopped at 7 sacks, too. T.J. Watt had 7 rookie sacks. Hell, immortal J.J. Watt only had 5 1/2 sacks as a rookie.
But Bain? Well, for way too many people, he’d be a stone cold bust if he can only find, say, 6 1/2 sacks this season.
Sadly, one of those guys might be someone who patrols One Buc Palace regularly. That’s Bucs legend and unofficial team insider Rondé Barber, who does work for the team website.
Barber hopped on The Jim Rome Show this week and told a national audience how stunning Bain is. Joe agrees, but Joe is only expecting consistent play and steady improvement from Bain, not an instant Pro Bowler.
Barber has other ideas.
“I think he’s going to take the league by storm,” Barber said. “I don’t want to put a lot on him; he is a rookie. But I think we would all be disappointed if he’s not a double-digit sack guy in his first year. He is that impactful.”
Joe sure hopes Barber is correct. But Joe doesn’t like the pressure on Bain, who is now nursing a shoulder sprain. Let the guy have his rookie year.
Joe would prefer to ramp up the pressure on Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey, former first-round picks like Bain, as well as contract-year edge rusher YaYa Diaby.
August 28th, 2026 at 9:47 am
Rookie wall is inevitable
But he’s gonna have great success for a rookie
August 28th, 2026 at 9:50 am
Yes Joe it is a bit if not totally unfair. However, hopefully he takes it in stride and he does seem to go about his business quietly. I do think the D line as a whole is improved and he will get the benifit of that. As for me I am going to hold off on double digits sacks or any number. He appears to be legit so let him develop into who he is. How is that
August 28th, 2026 at 9:50 am
Yes, the amount of pressure being placed on this young man’s shoulders in the form of expectations is ridiculous. God help him if he fails to meet those expectations.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:00 am
That’s a HUGE ask. It is sad to put all that on that man. A rookie. So, they’re expecting him to be Micah Parsons. It’s not fair. Good thing he seems to be extremely mentally STRONG. Cause, that’s tough. I mean, HE might not get there, BUT be the main reason that someone ELSE, came in and cleaned-it up. Isn’t that enough, while dictating the culture and setting the tone… For someone, with such short arms!?
August 28th, 2026 at 10:02 am
I just hope Todd allows him to eat…pressures eventually turn into sacks…but not if he’s dropped back in coverage….do that with someone else please! Not Big V or Bain.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:09 am
I won’t be disappointed if Reuben doesn’t get double-digit sacks this year.
He’s a rookie. It may take him a couple of years to get there.
We’ve also got a lot of hungry mouths to feed on defense. Much more so than last year.
AQM, Alex, Rozeboom, YaYa, Vita, Calijah. I’m probably missing a couple here.
Our new additions seem to be hungry and much more aggressive. Vita played more snaps last year than in previous years. He looks like he’s in much better shape, and he got what he wanted financially, so he has every reason to go gangbusters. Calijah just needs to stay healthy, and we should see better production from YaYa now that he has a legitimate counterpart on the other end of the D line.
There’s potential for a lot of sacks from a lot of different folks.
Reuben may not hit double-digits this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if our overall sack total goes up significantly compared to last year.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:12 am
If the hype for Buccaneers rookie edge rusher Rueben Bain is nearly a runaway train situation, then at least some of the blame rests on the Joes.
Remember: before he ever touched a practice field the Joes that said not to hype him, then the Joes hyped him the moment he did.
Me? I have high hopes but not high expectations. If he’s not a double digit sack guy by year three, *then* I’ll start being disappointed.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:13 am
Seeing is believing!!!
August 28th, 2026 at 10:14 am
You can’t deep fake on the field!
August 28th, 2026 at 10:14 am
As Todd will tell you, his edge OLBs do more than rush the passer. Can’t get sacks covering the flat.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:24 am
Barber has made a lot of stupid remarks in the past. “I don’t want to a lot on him “…but
August 28th, 2026 at 10:25 am
More worried about the team total than who they come from individually. I expect Bain to make plays, even the ones where he’s influencing the generation of positive reps just as much as him being the sole beneficiary of a positive rep.
Don’t really concern myself with setting arbitrary goals for individual players to hit on defense because everything that effects a play isn’t tallied on a stat sheet.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:26 am
I think only LeBron actually met then exceeded the hype. For most mere mortals it is best to take,advice from John Cusack ” the key to life is to set low expectations,and exceed them”
August 28th, 2026 at 10:29 am
I’m trying to responsibly manage expectations.
I’ll be perfectly satisfied with 11 sacks, Defensive Rookie of the Year and three NFC South quarterbacks entering therapy.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:31 am
But seriously.
No pressure, Rueben.
Just fix a problem we’ve been bitching about for five years by October.
Dude.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:33 am
the dude is more cerebral than you think…please take note of what i am saying on a deeper level…he might be a young football savant
August 28th, 2026 at 10:38 am
They focused on his short arms?
They should have measured his thighs and calves!
Lower body strength like Wirfs and Vea!
August 28th, 2026 at 10:38 am
With Bain in there, I am looking forward to alot of discussion with Yaya saying “Let’s meet at the quarterback”.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:40 am
“With Bain in there, I am looking forward to alot of discussion with Yaya saying “Let’s meet at the quarterback”.”
6 snaps vs KC together and they did this at least twice. I’ll 100% take that for starters.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:42 am
He will be dropping too much to get there as a rookie unfortunately.
Hope I’m wrong.
I wanna see Kancey stay healthy all year… if that happens, we have our double digit sack guy.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:48 am
I think hoping for double digit or near sacks is viable. Many people thought Bain was the best defensive player in college last year. Many thought Bain, including Bain himself I imagine, should have been a top 10 or even top 5 pick in the draft. I think a great competitor like Bain is more concerned with his expectations than others.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:49 am
Checked this: 36 rookies in NFL history (since they started recording sack stats) have had double-digit sacks.
August 28th, 2026 at 10:51 am
If that injury lingers he wont be doing much. Its only a matter of time before kancey gets hurt we will see if this defense has been fix but honestly i don’t believe anything they say show me
August 28th, 2026 at 10:59 am
Dropping Dropping Dropping Dropping Dropping Dropping..That is part of it! When Gainwell slips out this season pay attention to the defense and see who’s Dropping Dropping Dropping to help cover!! Good Lord..
Beer is good…..you know the rest! UGH!
August 28th, 2026 at 11:02 am
I care more about it he entire line having a bunch more sacks this year.
August 28th, 2026 at 11:25 am
I said probably 8.
August 28th, 2026 at 11:43 am
Let’s see when he gets on the field before we start projecting stats. I think he and #2 both miss the guaranteed loss in Cincinnati.
August 28th, 2026 at 11:54 am
SB~LV 🏈 Says:
August 28th, 2026 at 9:47 am
Rookie wall is inevitable
—————————————————————————————-
Bro!!! The way I saw this guy lineing up about 10 yards from the sled and sprinting to the sled and popping it time after time, an hour after practice when no one else was on the field, this guy is going to smash through the rookie wall. If Wirfs is our Hulk, Bain is our F4 Ben
August 28th, 2026 at 11:54 am
Can Rondé please STFU?
August 28th, 2026 at 12:10 pm
Let’s see when he gets on the field before we start projecting stats. I think he and #2 both miss the guaranteed loss in Cincinnati.
JBF has now progressed past GM/Coach status to Athletic Trainer status lol
August 28th, 2026 at 12:15 pm
Ronde Barber … “I don’t want to put a lot on him; he is a rookie. But I think we would all be disappointed if he’s not a double-digit sack guy in his first year. He is that impactful.”
Yup, no pressure Rueben. Ronde & others only expect you to do what some of your predecessors like JJ Watt, TJ Watt, Michael Strahan, Cam Jordan, Myles Garrett & Will Anderson COULDN’T do in their rookie year … get double-digit sacks. No pressure though.
More than anything else, it’s a numbers game IMO. Bucs’ OLBs have averaged 2219 def snaps AS A GROUP over the 7-year timeframe that Todd has been our DC (ranging from a low of 2092 def snaps (in 2025) to a high of 2386 def snaps (in 2021). During those 7 years, the OLB group has averaged almost 6 players, with as few as 4 OLBs getting snaps in 1 season (2020) & as many as 7 OLBs in 2 seasons (2024 & 2025).
So IF our OLB group does in fact hit its’ average (2219 def snaps) this season, how do they get divided up, assuming everyone stays healthy of course? As a minimum, my guess is that we’ll have FIVE mouths to feed: Bain, Diaby, Nelson, Walker, Muhammad. If the latter 3 OLBs only average say 300 def snaps apiece, that’d leave 1319 def snaps to be divided up between Bain & Diaby, an average of only about 660 def snaps apiece. Hard to get double digit sacks on that few snaps.
August 28th, 2026 at 1:01 pm
Just wait until he falls back into pass coverage against a WR 15 yards downfield.
Bowles asks the DE to do other things. Like deliver a daily case of fresh KitKats.
Gotta keep that championship level physique going. Large and in charge.
Queue the Barnum and Bailey circus music. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤣🤣🤣🤣
August 28th, 2026 at 1:13 pm
Ya’ll see that hairline? That’s double digit sack hairline.
August 28th, 2026 at 1:17 pm
Can’t have a lackluster year on this site…he’ll be deemed a bust, wasted pick, and Licht a moron for not drafting a QB in his slot….Same mooks who would of cut Barber, Sapp, and Lynch for coming out of the gates way to slow for them. All three have one thing in common I might add
August 28th, 2026 at 1:20 pm
Steve V Says:
August 28th, 2026 at 10:59 am
Dropping Dropping Dropping Dropping Dropping Dropping..That is part of it! When Gainwell slips out this season pay attention to the defense and see who’s Dropping Dropping Dropping to help cover!! Good Lord..
Beer is good…..you know the rest! UGH!
Answer: Which ever LB is responsible for that side or the MLB if he slips through the middle. Period. Since the dawn of time.
August 28th, 2026 at 2:39 pm
ALL 3/4 teams occasionally drop their edges into coverage
August 28th, 2026 at 2:58 pm
I don’t know if he’s ever going to be a perinial double digit sacker but he’s going to be a impactful player and tone setter. One of the glue player who makes everyone around him better. I hope I’m wrong and he averages over 10 sacks per season in his career. I’m just not sure he has to do that to be one of the all time great OLB/DE for this team.
August 28th, 2026 at 3:02 pm
He has to survive Bowles.
Then he’ll flourish with the new DC next year.
August 28th, 2026 at 5:05 pm
Love this guy, I will say this because the weight of the NFL is on his shoulders, in his mind. I want him to eat yeah 😋 but I won’t be mad with 8 1/2 . Vita is hungry bout that 30 million, Kancey is healthy and equally fast as my Rottweiler, Man, it’s gotta be time for Yaya to get 10 real quarterback on the ground Winfield scooping and scoring this year baby. He’s learning from who? Jason Taylor he was awesome!!! Pyburn would be a good backup for sure.. Let’s Go Bucs!!!!
August 28th, 2026 at 5:51 pm
Let the guy have his rookie year.
Joe would prefer to ramp up the pressure on Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey, as well as contract-year edge rusher YaYa Diaby.
Ed whole heartedly agrees with Joe! if Bain even gets between 5 and 8 sacks would be great!
Dude is a rookie and you can project he will be a good or great one!
August 28th, 2026 at 5:55 pm
ModHairKen Says:
“Can Rondé please STFU?”
.
.
I’m hoping he had to report to “the office” when he got back to One Buc Place. Maybe had his hand spanked with a ruler.
August 28th, 2026 at 6:43 pm
If rookie Ronde Barber doesn’t get at least 6 interceptions, it would be a disappointment. Sound fair?
August 28th, 2026 at 6:45 pm
DR
If Bain is beasting he’s coming out omly to rest. No one is gonna care about DE4 and DE5 getting snaps.
August 29th, 2026 at 12:44 am
With a NT like Via Vea these other Dlinemen should be productive. I dunno if its because Bowles prefers exotic blitz packages instead of letting the pass rushers do thier thing? Or if its because of dropping pass rushers into coverage. But this team has spent quite a bit of draft capital on defensive line. Too much draft capital looking for pass rushers for them to brag about run defense.