Tampa Bain is Now a Reality: Buccaneers Select Rueben Bain Jr.

I’m still stunned he fell to the Buccaneers. Like, truly. Arguably the most polished edge rusher in the whole draft. I don’t care if he has arms shorter than a T-Rex. This man has such a versatile move set to get into the backfield he might be able to do it with no arms. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am absolutely bouncing up and down. It’s not just me either. Based on the footage from the draft room, they were celebrating like they just won the space race. And Licht said it himself. He didn’t think Bain was going to end up here.

But First…

I want to address one thing because I was worried before the pick that it would cause the Bucs to pass on him. And that was the car accident he was involved in where one of his passengers, Destiny Betts, slipped into a coma and died. It was incredibly tragic and I wish nothing but the best for her family. Bain was initially cited for reckless driving for crashing into the back of another car, but the citation was dismissed for being deficient. Based upon all available evidence, he was not drinking nor driving impaired.

The general consensus seems to be that he was involved in an unfortunate circumstance that wasn’t truly his fault. Important to note the family even wished Bain well, so it doesn’t seem like they blame him. I will link the Yahoo Sports article here which seems to have the most information about the situation.

T-Rex -N- Effects

It was not character issues that caused Bain to fall, but his arm measurements. I made the joke, but he does have 30 7/8″ arms. Which, I actually think is shorter than me and my brother who hasn’t even graduated HS yet. He has the shortest arms ever for an edge rusher since 1999. That does make him something of a rarity. But if you’re worried about that, the man faced NFL tackles all throughout his career in Miami and still accrued 20.5 sacks in three years. He wasn’t facing cupcakes. Well, not in every game at least.

I think Jason Licht summarized it perfectly. “Mike Tyson had short arms”. While that is high praise and very difficult for Bain to live up to, I don’t think the arm length will be an issue. Bain has shown time and time again his arm length is not a detriment. The dude can play football. Not only that, but his voice sounds like he should be a radio DJ or singing jazz on a river boat. The Buccaneers got one of the best pass rushers without having to move a spot. I am so looking forward to seeing him on Sunday.