So, About Rueben Bain’s Short Arms
May 1st, 2026
Overcoming short arms.
A lot has been made about Rueben Bain’s short arms, for NFL standards. If not for that, it’s unlikely Bain would still have been on the board at No. 15 when the Bucs found him under their Christmas tree in last week’s draft.
Appearing on “Schein on Sports” yesterday, hosted by popular sports radio and television personality Adam Schein, heard exclusively on SiriusXM’s “Mad Dog Radio” channel, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht explained to Schein that just because a guy has short arms doesn’t mean he can’t play in the NFL.
“You know, I’d be lying if I said we didn’t talk about it,” Licht said of Bain’s alleged bad arm measurement. “We never saw [short arms] affect his play.”
Licht also told Schein the Bucs have two players in the trenches who have excelled despite short arms.
“We have a couple of players on our team that have done some really good things for us that also fell into that category [of short arms],” Licht said.
“Luke Goedeke, people said he would never be able to play tackle because he has short arms. He’s been doing a helluva job for us at right tackle.
“We had Calijah Kancey who had short arms as a defensive lineman and defensive tackle. And he’s a really good pass rusher inside despite that.”
Licht added that it takes a lot more to be a good lineman than having long arms.
“I think when you know how to use your hands, when you have fast, violent hands, I think you can overcome it,” Licht said.
Like you, Joe’s about had it with the short-arm talk. Joe will wrap up this post, stealing a line from a commenter earlier this week (sorry, Joe doesn’t remember his handle).
Chris Braswell has long arms.
May 1st, 2026 at 7:11 am
Bain has a really strong base. Watch any clip he runs the loop out of a wide 9, OTs try to basically him off path at the peak of the loop and he just keeps going toward the QB. Pair that with strong hands and you can see why Bain had the success he had at The U in spite of not having prototypically long arms.
“Short” arms also didn’t stop him from blocking an FG against Texas A&M or racking up 3 sacks in the same game.
May 1st, 2026 at 7:20 am
OK, I think I’m ready for some more Evans chatter over this man’s arm length
May 1st, 2026 at 7:26 am
Hope it does not hurt is pass coverage in the D backfield.
May 1st, 2026 at 7:43 am
I’m just glad we’re back to drafting football players and not physical specimens. The Bucs and the league in general are too focused on measurables. Now work on the culture!
May 1st, 2026 at 8:03 am
If he was a Gator man we could have a field day. Good Duck
May 1st, 2026 at 8:07 am
want some more Evans news:
The 49ers moved out of the first round, and with their first draft pick chose receiver De’Zhaun Stribling out of Ole Miss.
Analyst Matt Miller wrote:
“Despite adding Mike Evans and having former first-rounder Ricky Pearsall on the roster, the 49ers lack a deep threat”
Good move since Mile is kind of on his last legs.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:09 am
I really don’t get this short arm obsession. I’d rather see a discussion about drafting a player with high drop rates and a history of not being a blocker. To me those traits look like someone that avoids contact. How about a discussion around our running backs blocking ability. Or a conversation about how Ko Kieft knocking the hell out of the other team instead of how few receptions he has.Great football players and teams block well, hit hard, and wear the other team down. Bain looks like he hits hard and wears the other guys down.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:11 am
Bain has huge legs.
He has a great foundation and low center of gravity.
He also has something you can’t measure.
FIRE.
His favorite player is Ray Lewis.
I still can’t believe he dropped to us.
We are insanely lucky like with Wirfs and Vea.
He is exactly the type of killer we need on defense.
He is an elite OLB for Bowles defense.
He will set the edge. Teams will not run to his side.
He can penetrate. He can rush like a DE.
I cant believe we got him.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:22 am
B-Rexes were ferocious predators. They had short arms because they didn’t need them.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:25 am
Cashius Howell arms are shorter than Reuben Bain arms
No one was making a fuss over his arms length
It’s not that important, it’s irrelevant
May 1st, 2026 at 8:28 am
The only area his short arms are a problem, apparrently, is driving a car.
Please Jason, get this man a driver and all will be fine.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:34 am
Cashius Howell
11.5 sacks
14.0 TFL
6 PD
His so-call short arms didn’t affect his play
No one cares about a player arm length
His drive, determination, effort etc
Those are the important traits
May 1st, 2026 at 8:39 am
No edge has had 10 sacks with Bains arm length in over 20 years, that’s why analysts harp on the short arms, just facts whether we are sick of hearing about it or not, barring injury, Bain will change that
May 1st, 2026 at 8:47 am
JBF is OVERDOSING on Bain…………..let him prove it on the field……and, I defer to the question JBF always asks: When was the last time Todd Bowles DEVELOPED and edge rusher?????? Go ahead, I’ll wait for the answer.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:52 am
To be brutally honest as my namesake says, I can’t be much happier about what the Bucs have done this off-season. Bringing in the guy from Detroit with 11 1/2 sacks getting this Bain fallen out of heaven to them who cares about the short arms thing, and the guy from last year he never got a chance to play, but it’s all we heard about. You can’t help but think their Putrid Pass D is going to be better this year no matter how many of them have to drop back in coverage. And the DB from Miami appears to be a stud that’s gonna step right into the mix. Gotta feel optimistic about this defense, being better even if Bowles still calling the shots.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:54 am
I pray one day (sooner vs later) the arms conversation fades away as a historical quirky footnote that is becomes lost in time. Like Paul Zimmerman questioning Dan Marino’s arm strength before he was drafted in 1983.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:54 am
And yes, Anzalone and the other LB from the Panthers can only help
May 1st, 2026 at 8:56 am
As WBL and Teacherman pointed out, Bain has a strong base and huge legs. His body is very thick from neck down. He looks powerful and his play reflects that.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:57 am
Watch reps of Bain or any player rushing the passer or trying to block a pass rusher. Arms are bent before contact. Not saying arm length can’t be a factor but it is very small when talking about the overall effect on a pass rusher. If a pass rusher is doing any kind of bullrush, arm length will not have any effect on the rush. Arms are bent and used to cushion the blow as the players hit pad to pad. I watched Bain, OTs rarely got their hands on him first and when they did he got his hands on them right after. I paid particular attention to this when I was watching video of the 6’11 OT UDFA prospect we signed, Rubelt. His arms are 36″… he didn’t give up any sacks in the games but he too didn’t have much of an advantage despite vines for arms. The dude won every battle when he had his shoulders square with his opponent’s and didn’t do as well when the rusher wasn’t.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:58 am
I like our UDFA signing, just as much as l like our draft
I think we hit on quite a few of them
I see a lot of talent, and some promises
May 1st, 2026 at 9:17 am
“Chris Braswell has long arms.”
I missed that comment.
Absolutely brilliant!
May 1st, 2026 at 9:39 am
GM’s are obsessed by measurables in the NFL. What’s next genitals?
May 1st, 2026 at 9:42 am
Well the short arms thing will be a huge talking piece all upcoming season. Bain will either prove critics wrong if he does well or if not his arms will be to blame. I know this every year players who are drafted low, end up outplaying high draft picks. Look no further than Tom Brady and Brock Purdy, and the list goes on. It seems every year team experts miss both good and bad on many players. This year will be no exception. I hope Bain proves them all wrong. However, make no mistake next year another player will lose draft stock because his arm, legs, or something else does not fit the mold. I know Bain has plenty of ammo now to mentally to succeed. You can’t measure determination and heart. It appears Bain has both.
May 1st, 2026 at 9:44 am
Bain has some incredible bend I can’t wait and that attitude 100 percent what I want on that dline no glitz no glamor all business let’s go bain let’s go bucs.
May 1st, 2026 at 9:49 am
If you think about it, it’s mostly a law of averages for these guys.
Big D Lineman usually come with long arms, because they are BIG.
Just because he has short arms doesn’t mean he can’t bend.
It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have power and it doesn’t affect his angles he takes to the QB. Rip and Dip is his go-to and his compact frame actually helps him I think.
Regardless we got a guy who can stop the run while he is sleeping.
A guy who produced. For a National Championship caliber team.
May 1st, 2026 at 10:11 am
He competed at high levels at the highest levels. I don’t care if he wears his pants backwards
May 1st, 2026 at 10:19 am
I am so over this whole short arms debate.
Most of the better edge rushers are also taller than six to and probably arm length and height have some sort of correlation.
If his arms were 1 and 1/8 in longer they would have been 32 in which is right around the size of the most dominant pass rushers on average over the last 10 years. I can’t see how essentially the length from my middle to distal finger joint length he is going to be the difference between a pass rusher who can’t make it in the NFL and one who will thrive!
May 1st, 2026 at 11:44 am
I’ll take credit for my Braswell has long arms comment. Every now and then..
Whats the under/over on articles about Bain’s arms before camp? Also what’s the under/over on posters comments on “T Rex/BRex” posts? I mean how original and clever.
May 1st, 2026 at 11:54 am
Those short arms will give him less wind resistance while covering WRs 40 yards downfield.
What makes Todd’s scheme so brilliant is the versatility of it.
No matter who we plug in it’s simply a master class of dynamic performance.
We are growing tired of all this winning. It’s become boring really.
I feel sorry for the other 31 teams that have to try and figure out Bowles defense.
May 1st, 2026 at 12:33 pm
I want to put an apology out there to anybody that saw my rant concerning Bain and Bowles of which I refer to as “Bozo McClown”.
I don’t usually drink and I know better than to drink and write love letters but I didn’t seem to keep that in mind yesterday late afternoon.
I went a bit overboard with multiple comments aa I was telling the world how I “really feel” on the matter without a governor or limit to the different ways I was seeing it as the fire water was kicking in.
Normally I try to keep it to just one “upset/unhappy” post concerning futility but I couldn’t seem to stop laughing or typing or shaking my head in sad disappointment at the time.
In any case, apologies for saying (just a bit too much) about what I “really feel” on the matter.
Perhaps I’ll be staggered backwards in delight later this year if by some miracle, Bowles decides to use a “Pass Rush” specialist as a “Pass rush specialist” 85% to 90% of the time and ONLY on occasion use them as some perverted form of the secondary, Instead Of the other way around….
In anycase, Apologies for ranting on and on a bit Too Much yesterday late afternoon. (Only in the one article though) : )
May 1st, 2026 at 12:44 pm
Obvious One
You’re entitled to your opinion, just as the next man
This is a open forum, everyone has a different take
Personally l agree with some of your views
And l disagree with some, that’s the way it should be
May 1st, 2026 at 12:52 pm
Allen Lofton – ROTFLMAO!!!!!!
May 1st, 2026 at 1:14 pm
Folks Bowles wanted him for his drop back pass coverage. He misses JTS. Now if only he can get number 9. Maybe he can jump high enough to overcome his stubby arms.
May 1st, 2026 at 1:23 pm
So what’s the over under on missed tackles with this short armed team? Should we change our name to the Tampa Bay Stumps. Go Stumps!
May 1st, 2026 at 2:45 pm
I can only imagine what Bain thinks of you people!
May 1st, 2026 at 3:47 pm
Allen Lofton — Mark Shlereth talks about the “BOO” contingent.
“Balls Over Opponent”.
Genitiles are definitely an important measurable.
Not worried about Bain’s BOO.
May 1st, 2026 at 4:08 pm
Ray Lewis and all of the greatest LB’s had on thing in common and that was they played behind some of the best Dlines in history! Its all about winning the line of scrimmage both for the offense and the D!!!
May 1st, 2026 at 4:57 pm
t-rex is gonna wreck shop
May 1st, 2026 at 6:26 pm
the next poll should be whether short arm size has any correlation with size of genitals.
May 1st, 2026 at 7:05 pm
The Buc’s should use this to create hype. Get all of the D-line elbow length gloves of a different color than the uni, . After every sack have them all run to a spot keeping their elbows tucked to their ribs and short-five each other while T-Rex screams from the jumbotron.
May 1st, 2026 at 7:09 pm
Hc Grover is a Saints troll..what a dork
May 1st, 2026 at 11:31 pm
Despite the usual overly serious syrupy Pom Pom wavers, there is some fun and humor in this thread. More of that, less of Bowles apologists and excuse makers.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:25 am
You know who has shorter arms than him??? Mini me and Bolivar Trask Kyle’s illegitimate step brother, so I think he’ll be alright. What I really hope for is inspite of Bowles he becomes the Basin of opposing qbs.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:27 am
Bain of opposing qbs. I should apply for this here website’s editor position ?