Bucs need results.
Joe is starting to feel sorry for Bucs rookie Rueben Bain.
The No. 15 overall pick has been as invisible as Joe has seen from a Bucs pick who was selected that high.
In four games, Bain has five tackles. Bain, a ferocious pass rusher at Miami, has yet to touch an NFL quarterback. No quarterback hits. No sacks.
Yesterday, KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles was asked for a review of Bain’s play in Dallas. Bowles raved about the defensive front’s pressure.
But what about Bain, Bowles was asked again. Bowles had to stretch a little.
> “He looked good. He looked good,” Bowles said. “Got to knock the rust off some technique-wise.
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> “But he looked good and he played hard.”
Well, Joe would hope Bain played hard. But at some point, don’t the Bucs need Bain to produce? Two assists in a game, hell, a practice squad dude could do that.
Joe feared after Bain was drafted by the Bucs, for all of his talent, Bain will have an uphill climb with the Bucs. This Bowles defense simply is not made for an edge rush. Bowles has said many times an edge rush is overrated.
When Bowles next develops a rookie edge rusher into a double-digit sack guy, it will be his first.
Too often, when Bain runs a curl stunt to the inside, he looks just like a muscular Chris Braswell. He just gets lost in the wash.
You really don’t know just how much Joe hopes he’s dead wrong about Bain and the Bucs.
But honestly, until Bain figures it out, and with the Bucs’ playoff hopes hanging by a thread, David Walker needs to be on the field more than Bain.