NFL Analyst Frustrated With How Rueben Bain Is Used
October 21st, 2026
Use of Rueben Bain questioned.
Back in this spring’s draft, the Joe typing here was one of the very few not popping champagne bottles over the Bucs selecting the Miami Mauler, Rueben Bain, with the No. 15 pick.
The main crux was KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles’ history developing edge rushers. Joe feared Bain would be ruined and that Bain couldn’t have gone to a worse situation.
Not a whole lot has changed for Joe. (Joe wanted the Bucs to pick tight end Kenyon Sadiq — given how Sadiq has looked and how Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson loves to target tight ends come hell or high water, that wouldn’t have been a dumb pick.)
Joe really does believe Bain is that talented and could be the next Warren Sapp. But Joe always thought Bain was best as a defensive end in a 43 defense or, if he had to play in a 34 defense, play with his hand in the ground, maybe even a defensive tackle.
Now, Bain largely is playing standing up and the results have been very underwhelming. Bain finally got his first sack Sunday against Pittsburgh.
Over on YouTube, NFL analyst Marcus Whitman has over 100,000 followers. Joe can’t find his qualifications — if he played anywhere or if he is a data analyst.
Joe figures if this guy has that size of a following, he must not be a dumbarse.
Whitman admitted he gets triggered watching Bain with the Bucs. Whitman is of the mind Bain could be getting so much more production if he was used differently. In short, it doesn’t appear Whitman is a fan of Bowles’ philosophy on using edge rushers.
Imagine that, someone questions how Bowles uses or doesn’t use a talented edge rusher.
Given Bowles’ recent comments that sacks are pretty much trivial and don’t win games — don’t tell that to Jalen Ramsey! — Joe is starting to wonder why the Bucs drafted Bain in the first place and hand him over to be developed by a guy who doesn’t care about sacks.
That would be like handing a five-star high school quarterback prospect over to Woody Hayes to develop his arm, a guy who was famous for mocking the forward pass saying, “Only three things can happen when you throw the ball and two are bad.”
Rueben Bain's usage in Todd Bowles' defense is extremely frustrating. It's not that he can't line up wide and play a stand up Wide 9 / 7-Tech… But all game??
Tighten these splits and let him get some reps as a 4i on true passing downs and he's going to make a bigger impact.…
— Marcus Whitman (@TFG_Football) October 20, 2026
October 21st, 2026 at 5:50 am
From those clips, hand in the dirt gives him a much better jump off. Of course, it’s harder to drop back in coverage on a WR that way. I really thought that on some passing downs they would slip him in as a DT next to Vea, and run Yaya and Muhammad on the outside. Now the revised version should be Walker on the outside and leave Yaya on the sidelines.
October 21st, 2026 at 5:50 am
Its only for this year Joe. Bain will have a new coach next year who hopium knows what he is doing. I do believe the Bucs have some talented players and the thing that is lacking is coaching and scheme.
But that is the scary part. I was just reading the history on Chris Ballard bc of his firing. The bad coaching hires, player trades, etc. That could be us. Just getting rid of Todd does not guarantee the Bucs anything. In fact, it could get worse.
It is not automatic that a great OC or DC will translate to an awesome HC. For every Ben Johnson, there is a Josh McDaniels. McDaniels was/is every bit as good of an OC as Johnson, but he proved in 2 stints as a HC he was completely inept at running the whole show. A bad HC hire sets your franchise back for YEARS.
Time to really earn your money JL.
October 21st, 2026 at 5:58 am
Bowles is a hack. He’s a secondary coach masquerading as a defensive coordinator that got gifted a head coaching job in a coup orchestrated by Bruce Arians.
He’s a career destroyer for front-7 players. I mean, Shaq Barrett had 19.5 sacks playing right defensive end and Bowles moved him to left defensive end the next season. If that isnt coaching malpractice, I dont know what is.
This team has a really nice collection of talent across the defensive line, and an indifferent coach that doesn’t really care about using it. Lining a small quick player like Bain up as far away from the football as possible at the snap is just one example.
October 21st, 2026 at 6:21 am
Bowles is a horrible coach, what’s new? He’s a loser, and the Bucs will be losers till he’s gone. I hope the Glazers are happy with their decision to ignore their fans, and the obvious. Speaking of losers, never heard if a certain politician attended the game?
October 21st, 2026 at 6:28 am
The kid down the street is upset how Bain is being used too, Joe. Seems to be a trend.
October 21st, 2026 at 6:31 am
here’s the gaslighting that will pave the way for Licht & Bowles to return :
1) Baker’s thumb
2) Zac Robinson
3) defense was good but needs more time to develop :
McCollum Tykee Bain Trotter etc etc
rinse and repeat next year
October 21st, 2026 at 6:47 am
The only good part about this year is we’re gonna get a new coach next year. Can’t take much more of this.
October 21st, 2026 at 7:17 am
I’ve noticed that Bowles has his edge guys always setting the edge on their pass rushes by rushing the outside shoulder of the OT. Against Rodgers, Bowles finally let these guys rush inside the OT and sacks happened. Need move inside moves.
Still only very rare stunts with the inside rushers. More stunts and games!
October 21st, 2026 at 7:28 am
So, Joe….. what’s the latest on Baker? You must have some inside info about the thumb, his preparation and what will happen on Sunday. That’s why you make the big bucks…can you enlighten us?
October 21st, 2026 at 8:02 am
Fortunately, Bain is young, so he can recover from this year. Once we get a real coach, one who understands how to coach up and maximize their talent, Bain will flourish.
October 21st, 2026 at 8:07 am
No part of this team is coached to play ‘upfield’…the OL is constantly on its heels, the WRs can barely run routes past the line of scrimmage, the DBs play man-press until they don’t. The DL/OL play the run first, then read/react, and maybe-just maybe take a few steps towards the QB. It’s an infuriating and mind boggling approach. It’s soft football, from a soft coach. Poor Rueben.
October 21st, 2026 at 8:18 am
Still like my idea of Sean McDermott for HC and then Jim Schwartz for DC.
We’d be cooking with gas then!!!
I’m just not sure on the OC choice now.
October 21st, 2026 at 8:20 am
Imagine Bain and David Walker in a 4-3 defense, setting the edge and rushing the passer every down. 2027 the world is ours….
October 21st, 2026 at 8:52 am
The defense isn’t being run through Rueben Bain, so to take his role in a given concept and alter it would mean you’ve got to redo the entire look. Every offensive down our defense faces isn’t a pass rush rep, our OLBs still have contain responsibilities defending the run, or playing backside pursuit or keying the RB if an ILB is blitzing, bumping the TE off the snap or sinking into a zone. Y’know football player stuff.
A different alignment isn’t going to change the job duties of our defenders, it just means they’re doing the same thing at different starting/leverage points relative to the actual defensive play call. 3-4 vs. 4-3 doesn’t matter in terms of better play.
October 21st, 2026 at 8:58 am
🙂
October 21st, 2026 at 9:02 am
Because Bowles is an idiot and couldn’t coach his way out of a paperboy. Whoever takes his job next year will have to seriously evaluate the talent on this team. I am sure there are a ton of players that have not been used correctly and are way under developed because of this inept coaching staff.
October 21st, 2026 at 9:32 am
“Because Bowles is an idiot and couldn’t coach his way out of a paperboy”
A-yo
October 21st, 2026 at 9:33 am
Bowles is a moron who ruins edge rushers.
The sooner he gets away from this clown, the more hope there is for his career. Otherwise, he’ll have his talent squandered like JTS, Logan Hall and Braswell – I’m really thinking it’s less a talent issue and more a coaching one and that Licht is giving him talented players, Bowles cannot or will not develop them properly. Miscoached to the point where they’re completely ruined by the time he has finished with them.
It’s why I’m giving Licht a pass. The issue is coaching, not talent.
October 21st, 2026 at 9:38 am
Imagine the Bucs with a coach that is atleast avarage.
October 21st, 2026 at 9:55 am
@Joe
I don’t care about what was done in the past regarding coaching changes.
Are the Glazers willing to waste an entire season waiting to fire Todd in January?
That sounds crazy to me. But the fact that we’re 4-13 in the last 17 proves that the owners aren’t valuing the win column as much these days.
What material does Bowles have on the Glazers? No way do they honestly like what they see with this coach. He needs to be fired immediately.
October 21st, 2026 at 10:02 am
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Bowles coaches like he has a long held, jealousy fueled bias against edge rushers and he wants his DBs to get all the glory. Think about it. He said he doesn’t want sacks, he wants pressure. That’s because he wants interceptions and glory for DBs and not edge rushers.
Yeah, I know. It sounds pretty stupid to me too, but then I think back to how Chucky failed to capitalize on the talents of his most popular offensive player: Mike Alstott. I really think he hated having players that were extremely popular, either out of jealousy, or some weirdly overblown “team > individual” philosophy.
October 21st, 2026 at 11:05 am
Todd is a proven genius, too smart for casual fans to understand. These other things players know.
October 21st, 2026 at 11:27 am
It’s about the scheme, not the players, for Bowles. Until it’s time to point fingers.
Even Woody Hayes changed a bit when Art Schlichter came aboard. But not Bowles.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:14 pm
Shocking. Radio don’t know how to use his talents said it weeks ago Bain is being used wrong. Only 11 more games of this idiot than hopefully Bucs new coach will know how to use Bain and the rest of the guys right. 🤦🏻♂️
October 21st, 2026 at 3:12 pm
“Joe figures if this guy has that size of a following, he must not be a dumbarse.”
—————–
Lmfao 😂
The Internet is FULL of “dumbarses” with giant number of followers…. You must be kidding.