Jason Licht Talks Rueben Bain Early Impact
June 12th, 2026
The architect of the Buccaneers has strong opinions of his first-round draft pick.
Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht talked about Miami Mauler edge rusher Rueben Bain during a chat yesterday with JP Peterson of FanStreamSports.com.
Licht has been very impressed.
“Rueben has been as advertised,” Licht said of Bain, who widely was projected as a top-10 draft pick.
“He’s very powerful. You don’t really see all that without pads, just very athletic. The thing that stands out the most in this setting is just his professional approach, his will to be the best and his work ethic and all that. And it’s always great when your first pick has those qualities because it tends to bleed into your entire class.”
Licht added that second-round pick linebacker Josiah Trotter is right there with Bain when it comes to football drive, professionalism and intelligence. He also said those qualities run down the 2026 draft poll.
Yes, the front office always says it adores its draft class. But this year feels a little different, probably because Bain is a very different kind of prospect.
June 12th, 2026 at 6:01 pm
Nice
June 12th, 2026 at 6:13 pm
Every rookie has a plan until they get punched in the mouth…I just feel like the 3 defensive players taken in the 1st 4 rounds have no problem punching back above their weight class.
For once, I am very high on the potential for immediate and sustained production from a DEF draft class. Which is an odd feeling to say the least. I’m usually more pessimistic of Licht’s “reaches”. It doesn’t feel like 2026 was a reach at all. More like things just fell into place.
June 12th, 2026 at 6:20 pm
Super Bowl here they come.
June 12th, 2026 at 6:28 pm
Let’s see if he manages to test Wirfs and Goedeke in training camp before hyping him up too much. I wouldn’t be surprised if he struggled in his rookie season as most rookie edge rushers do.
June 12th, 2026 at 6:31 pm
In our last Superbowl season, our pass rush was sooo good that it overcame Bowles secondary scheme. Even with that vicious pass rush Mahommes was still hitting receivers in the hands and facemasks. They were just dropping the passes. Let’s hope Bains and YaYa will have the same effect this season.
June 12th, 2026 at 6:46 pm
catcard202 Says:
June 12th, 2026 at 6:13 pm
Every rookie has a plan until they get punched in the mouth…
^^^^^^^^^
Yeah, you have to have a plan after getting punched in the mouth, too. Otherwise, you never belonged there in the first place.
June 12th, 2026 at 6:47 pm
Bain will probably thrive, even in an inadequate defensive system.
June 12th, 2026 at 7:25 pm
Nice, now go sign a corner cause last year’s 2nd round pick is “nicked up”, yet again.
June 12th, 2026 at 7:29 pm
We will see. One sure fire way for him to disappoint is to overhype him. Remember Licht hyped a guy every off season for the past few years and I think every person he has hyped up has fallen flat.
June 12th, 2026 at 7:30 pm
And yes please go sign a veteran CB. I wouldn’t plan on Morrison and if he happens to play then it’s even better depth.
June 12th, 2026 at 7:51 pm
Hodad and USF
Morrison def needs to be ready for training camp, but yes we need a veteran cb in the worst way. Not real worried about Parrish, but McCollum really scares me, and after that we are very thin on the outside. Benjamin already looking like Dean 2.0 as far as injuries go.
June 12th, 2026 at 7:58 pm
Yes. Every team in the league is raving about its draft picks right now.
Every team has a class of All pros!
Things change, when they actually start playing in real games.
But I said it on the final day- I think this is an outstanding class.
Other than Trotter, I expect every one of our picks to contribute.
4 of them may start by mid season.
The real question- Is this defense beyond horrible, because
A) Licht has ignored the pass rush so long, that we no longer can stop a QB from having his way with us! So many wasted high picks. And signing Randy Gregory and Haason Reddick Showed that Licht thought rushing the passer is a joke.
I believed this war the issue. Lately, I’m leaning more towards
B) Todd Bowles and his staff are not improving our young players, via good Coaching.
It seems like a lot of our young players get worse here, instead of improving.
Zyon, Denis, Winfield, Cilp, Barton.
NFL Coaches should be making major improvement to young players.
I am not sure we will see the best of Bain- under this coaching staff. Their record with drafted linemen is horrible. Spence, JTS,Hall, Braswell, Kancey.
All high draft picks. All showed at least a little promise.
All major bust.
Bain’s real growth may have to wait a year.
June 12th, 2026 at 8:03 pm
Capt.Tim…I concur the next coach is going to have to coach the Bowles out of him.
June 12th, 2026 at 8:19 pm
I finally figured out how Bain fell to us. The Rams already had in the bag the trade for Miles Garret BEFORE the draft. That’s why they overreached on that QB. I’m sure the “brains” on this website would just say, “Duh!” But, it just came to me recently.
Another thought: I think they screwed up! They traded a young and producing Verse and a boatload of draft picks for Garret. I would rather have Verse, Bain, and those draft picks rather than one Miles Garret. Obviously, the Rams are going all in for ’66, however, one injury to Garret and they will be hurting for years.
I think Bain is the real deal and we were very lucky. With Licht and Bowles I’d settle for the Bucs be lucky than good.
June 12th, 2026 at 8:36 pm
I predict Bowles will be our coach next year too. Especially after we have an excellent season and postseason…all it will take is **far less** injuries.
June 12th, 2026 at 9:02 pm
Bain Jr will be the next Warren Sapp. Opposing quarterbacks will be looking over their shoulder. No more 3rd and 28 = 1st down !!
Go Bucs !!
June 12th, 2026 at 9:10 pm
The Licht hype machine is back again. This time his new favorite rookie who hasn’t played one snap with pads on.
June 12th, 2026 at 10:58 pm
We need two vet cornerbacks. Weakest spot on team.