Bucs Fans Got What They Wanted
April 23rd, 2026
Happy fanbase.
Joe has been polling fans for weeks on what they wanted in Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Two answers always were the most popular.
Bucs fans wanted Tampa Bay to target an edge rusher, or they wanted the Bucs to pick the best player available.
It sure seems like the Bucs accomplished both tonight by drafting University of Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain. Few in the draft guru world thought Bain would fall that far. He was a consensus top-10 pick.
As ESPN draft-night analyst Booger McFarland, the former Buccaneer, said after the selection, “Bain was the most dominant defensive lineman in college football last year.”
Booger also called him “a power-based player with heavy hands,” and Booger laughed off the knock on Bain has having too-short arms.
Bain then showed his swagger to the nation. In a black suit and shades, and calm as a cucumber, he told ESPN’s Laura Rutledge at the draft in Pittsburgh, “I know I’m the best in the country.”
Bain went on to say,”I can do anything I put my mind to because of my mindset.”