Miami edge Rueben Bain.
Joe doesn’t give a damn if a guy has a baby arm or not. If the man can punish quarterbacks, so what? He’s Joe’s kind of guy.
Researching edge rushers, Joe noticed some schlockers have Miami beast Rueben Bain as the No. 3 edge rusher in the draft.
The way Bucs coach Todd Bowles prefers best player available in the first round, Joe doesn’t know if the third-best pass rusher will be better than the best tight end or second-best cornerback.
Bain last year was a complete beast in the college football playoffs. Imagine that, a guy who comes to play in the biggest games.
So Joe checked out CBS analyst Emory Hunt, the Czar of the Playbook, and read what his Football Gameplan Draft Guide 2026 has to say about Bain.
Hunt thinks Bain is a baller.
* Elite level point of contact strength that makes him a chore to block over 60-minutes. Heavy handed puncher who has the ability to walk linemen back into the pocket w/leverage.
* In conjunction with the heavy hands, he’s got very active hands as well with the ability to combat the linemen who mostly out-reach him from an arm length perspective.
* Great sense of timing to make THE play at the most critical juncture. Excellent pursuit skills and effort that helps him excel on both ends of defense.
Here’s the thing about the short arms: Are we not to believe Bain didn’t play against decent if not good tackles in the playoffs? Are we really to believe all the tackles Bain faced in the playoffs were stiffs?
And Bain mauled these guys. Game after game in December and January.
But for “this Joe,” the same issue with drafting Bain at No. 15 applies for all edge rushers. This coaching staff can’t or won’t develop a rookie into a double-digit sack guy.
As Joe has written repeatedly about this Bain’s teammate Akheem Mesidor, the only way Joe would draft Bain is if the Bucs hire his position coach at Miami, Hall of Famer Jason Taylor. Make him Bain’s personal coach and give Taylor full autonomy to coach up Bain as he sees fit with zero interference.
If the Bucs agreed to that, then “this Joe” would be OK if the Bucs drafted Bain (or Mesidor). Otherwise, stay away from an edge rusher at No. 15.
If the Bucs can’t develop an edge rusher drafted in later rounds, at least it won’t sting as bad as throwing a first-round draft pick away.
"I can't get over what I saw in the College Football Playoff… this guy is 8 million miles per hour on every single snap."
More from @joelklatt on Rueben Bain ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/NHMUggaZgE
— The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football on FOX Pod (@JoelKlattShow) March 17, 2026