Tampa Bay Buccaneers edge rusher Rueben Bain has not lived up to his first-round billing through the start of his NFL career. Co-defensive coordinator Larry Foote made it clear that he is waiting on Bain to record his first career sack. He added that Bain is getting anxious as well.
“I’m waiting on him to get his first one,” said Foote. “And I know he’s waiting on it.”
Bain played for the Bucs the first two weeks but was not effective. The team held him out for two weeks with a shoulder injury. Foote noted that some time off in Weeks 3 and 4 had him looking much fresher in the Bucs Week 5 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
“Watching the Cowboys game, he looked better than he did the previous weeks,” admitted Foote. “He is coming around.”
Foote did not want to use the injury as an excuse, but made it clear that he looked healthier. Foote also added that Bain flashed signs that show he is getting closer.
“We are all going to deal with injuries, but he looked fresher last week,” revealed Foote. “You saw it in the game. He is getting close. He had some good rushes. It is just day-by-day. You gotta block out the noise and keep growing in this league. You gotta develop at that position.”
Foote noted that he saw some development in Week 5, which could lead to a sack in the coming weeks.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Are Waiting on Rueben Bain to Record His First Career Sack
Bain looked so good in training camp that the team gave him the veteran treatment in the preseason. He played just six snaps over three weeks, all with the starting defense. However, when he came out in Week 1, he looked unprepared against Armarius Mims of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Things did not improve in Week 2 against a weaker Cleveland Browns line. Bain recorded just two pressures in two weeks. He had a 33.5 grade in Week 1, per PFF, and a 53 grade in Week 2.
After missing two weeks, Bain did not record a pressure, but he added a run stop and finished with a 70.5 grade overall.
Bain is behind his trajectory right now, but the Bucs expect him to make up for lost time.
Bucs Need More From Bain
Bain currently has two pressures, which rank 10th amongst rookie edge rushers. For comparison, David Bailey leads the way with 20 pressures. Still, even second-round rusher Derrick Moore has four pressures, and third-round edge rusher Romello Height has five pressures.
Bain has a 7.4% pass rush win rate, which is tied for eighth amongst rookie edge rushers. To be fair, Bailey has the same win rate; he just has nearly 80 more rush attempts. Still, Malachi Lawrence went shortly after Bain and has a 16.3% win rate. Gabe Jacas went in round 2 and his win rate was 14.8%.
The Bucs need to see Bain win a lot more to justify his draft status. The injury is not an excuse now.
Bucs Coach Makes Feelings Clear on Struggling Rookie