TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers never thought Miami Hurricanes edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. would fall to them with the 15th pick of the first round. But he did, and Bucs GM Jason Licht couldn’t be happier.
“We got our guy,” Licht said. “There were very few scenarios where we thought he’d be there, but there (were) scenarios, and we’re very excited. I probably have never seen a more excited draft room.”
Bain was a stud at Miami. The Ted Hendricks Award winner (given to the nation’s best defensive end) as well as the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Bain led the nation in 83 QB pressures. Bain had 9.5 sacks and 20.5 in his last three seasons in Miami. The Bucs were looking for an edge and had stated they would go with the best players available, but in this case, Bain checked off both boxes.
The knock on Bain is that he has short arms. Not a problem, says Licht.
“Mike Tyson has short arms, too,” Licht said. “He (Bain) tries to win every rep, and he usually does.”
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A report last week indicated that Bain was involved in a car crash in March of 2024 that ended with the death of a woman, 22-year-old Destiny Betts, who was a passenger in the vehicle Bain was driving.
According to the crash report, no field sobriety tests were performed at the time of the crash. Bain was cited, but the charges were dropped. Licht said the Bucs knew about the tragic accident and didn’t know if the incident caused Bain to drop in the first round.
“We’ve known about this for a long time,” Licht. “I know it just came out a couple of weeks ago. It was a very tragic accident, a tragic experience for the family, and it’s something you never want to see happen. He’s a good person.”
Bain likely will play opposite YaYa Diaby on the outside of the defensive line. Besides Bain and Diaby, the Bucs picked up Al-Quadin Muhammad and are hoping to finally get to see last year’s fourth-round draft pick David Walker show what he can do, after missing all of last season with an ACL tear.
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