I’ve loved Ruben Bain since his high school days at Miami Central where videos of him working 5-star OL at camps would go viral. Now he can lead The U to the playoffs and be a top-10 pick in April. Every-down athleticism/strength and changes games. Only turns 21 next Monday. https://t.co/9VQfd59vac

— Dominick Skene (@DomSkene) September 1, 2025

The Seattle Seahawks currently hold their own picks in each round from the first to the sixth in the 2026 NFL Draft. While the 2025 NFL season starts on Thursday, college football is already underway. In this series, I’ll be profiling 2026 NFL Draft prospects based on their possible fit with the current iteration of Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks.The first player I want to cover is University of Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain. Bain is a true modern EDGE whose biggest strength lies in his versatility.

A pass rusher with a first step and hand usage like Bain would be extremely valuable to an NFL team, likely enough to use a day-two pick on, but he’s also strong as an ox in run defense. He lacks the length of a Micah Parsons but is wider and creates leverage mismatches, which give offensive tackles nightmares on the outside. His low center of gravity and stocky build also enable him to play inside, where his explosiveness blows up guards who are mismatched against his quickness. In these six plays from yesterday’s game against Notre Dame, you can see him create nightmares for offensive tackles and guards in special ways that will translate to Sundays.

Reuben Bain Jr #4 reminds me a lot of an old player from the University of Texas I grew up watching. Sergio Kindle. Similar Body type. EXPLOSIVE FIRST STEP. As a defensive lineman one of the first thing that pops on tape with this kid is his shin angles at get off are so… pic.twitter.com/l3ibnoGGqt

— Breiden Fehoko (@BreidenFehoko) September 1, 2025

He’s listed at 6’3” on Miami’s official roster and he looks to be around 275 pounds, but he has a streak of uniqueness that separates him from the other edge rushers in this class. The second play of this cut-up shows the all-22 film of Bain’s fourth-quarter interception, which changed the game last night.

The best sign for Bain’s potential is that he’s hard to make comparisons for. NFL Draft Buzz said his game reminded them of “a stronger Yannick Ngakoue with more run-stopping prowess – a comparison that doesn’t fully capture the ceiling here.”

When a prospect ticks all the boxes from a production and scheme standpoint but has a unique play-style, the question looms over whether that particular style will work at the next level. But when the comparisons start to sound like this, they become the name to watch at their position group. Abdul Carter rose through pre-draft rankings last year due to his uniqueness as well. Once his traits took over in the College Football Playoff, scouts struggled to compare him and he became the clear outlier.

I think we’ll hear his uniqueness explained through Bain having a legendary motor. It was described as “nuclear-hot” by NFL Draft Buzz and was mentioned by 247Sports Andrew Ivins as “one of the best motors in the class of 2023” coming out of high school. While his technique and spatial awareness allow him to take great angles and his football IQ checks out on tape, his motor constantly puts him in position to make a difference.

The Seahawks enter year two of the Mike Macdonald era with a reloaded defense but no clear superstar pass rushers. As some observers thought they would be in on the Micah Parsons trade, there’s an argument to be made that they’re “an edge rusher away” from competing for a Super Bowl. Bain might be the next hope at getting a Micah Parsons-type game-changer in the draft. He’d fit that exact profile for the Seahawks, as a defensive weapon you can build the whole unit around. His ability to shift inside for passing downs with Byron Murphy II would create one of the strongest and quickest pound-for-pound combos in the league.

Whether Seattle’s draft pick ends up earlier or later in the first round, they’ll need some help from the board to have a chance at Bain. He did miss time with injuries last year, and with his unconventionality as a prospect comes variability in his draft stock.

But for as young, unique and game-changing as he is, he’s putting himself in pole position as the first player on my Seahawks-focused big board for 2026.