![\"Rueben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pittsburgh-steelers-v-tampa-bay-buccaneers-tampa-florida-october-18-rueben-e1793306682815.jpg\")
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. and linebacker Josiah Trotter. <\/p>\n
This is not how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> envisioned things going for edge rusher and 2026 1st-round pick Rueben Bain<\/a> Jr.<\/p>\n Almost two months into his first NFL season, Bain doesn\u2019t look like an elite NFL player \u2014 now or anytime in the future \u2014 and ESPN\u2019s Jeff Legwold<\/a> tabbed him as the most underperforming rookie in his draft class heading into Week 8.<\/p>\n \u201cThough players have no control over where they\u2019re selected, the expectations follow them anyway. Bain certainly had high expectations after a dominant College Football Playoff, but his introduction to the NFL has been choppy at best,\u201d Legwold wrote on October 29. \u201cBain has missed two games because of groin and shoulder injuries. He has just one quarterback hit and a sack thus far. Plus, his 8% pressure rate ranks 73rd among qualifying rushers. Some personnel executives believe Bain is simply going to need a better rush plan, especially when it comes to creating more of a threat to the inside shoulder of offensive tackles.\u201d<\/p>\n The Buccaneers thought it was a stroke of luck that Bain fell to them with the No. 15 overall pick and signed a 4-year, $23.7 million rookie contract \u2014 but it\u2019s starting to look like the opposite.<\/p>\n Rueben Bain Under Microscope Since Season Opener<\/p>\n The pressure \u2014 and the spotlight \u2014 has been on Bain since Day 1.<\/p>\n Bleacher Report\u2019s Kristopher Knox<\/a> put Bain on blast for his lack of impact in a 33-27 season-opening loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n \u201cRookie first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. was largely invisible,\u201d Knox wrote on September 19. \u201cThe 15th pick in April\u2019s draft played 64 percent of the defensive snaps but finished with just one tackle, no sacks, and no QB pressures. Bain was arguably college football\u2019s most disruptive defender in 2025 but fell in the draft due to concerns about arm length. He needs to prove that such concerns were unwarranted, and he needs to play much, much better to prove the Bucs right for stopping his slide in the middle of Round 1.\u201d<\/p>\n Bucs\u2019 2nd-Round Pick Among NFL\u2019s Elite Rookies<\/p>\n On the flip side, Buccaneers\u2019 inside linebacker and 2026 2nd-round pick Josiah Trotter<\/a> landed on ESPN\u2019s list among the NFL\u2019s top rookies so far.<\/p>\n Trotter, the No. 46 overall pick, leads the Buccaneers with 62 tackles in six games \u2014 he missed one game due to injury.<\/p>\n \u201cTrotter\u2019s play recognition stands out on the tape,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Matt Bowen wrote. \u201cHe is quick to diagnose against the run, getting eyes on formation keys and pulling guards to make tackles. His 43% run stop win rate ranks 10th among all linebackers, and he has the physical play style to drop the hammer on contact. Plus, Trotter has created some on-the-ball production in coverage, which includes a pick-six on quarterback Joe Burrow<\/a> and the Bengals. He\u2019s an ascending player who can also be schemed as blitzer in Todd Bowles\u2019 defense.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, and the entire NFC East Division. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. and linebacker Josiah Trotter. This is not how the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-443436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}