INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Rueben Bain is the new Will Campbell.<\/p>\n
Each draft cycle, there\u2019s at least one prospect who\u2019s picked apart for all sorts of factors he can\u2019t control. Last year, it was Campbell \u2014 the former LSU tackle whose arm length was a major talking point before he went fourth overall to the New England Patriots. This year, even though he plays an entirely different position, Bain has been picked apart for similar concerns after his arms reportedly measured slightly under 31 inches.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s about 2 inches shorter than the preferred minimum length for edge rushers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of the teams seem too concerned with it,\u201d Bain said Wednesday. \u201cAs long as I just talk the talk and walk the walk.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pre-draft fervor didn\u2019t end up hurting Campbell, who went as high as initially expected. But it remains to be seen if the same applies to Bain, whose draft range has been projected to fall anywhere between No. 2 and possibly as far back as somewhere in the teens.<\/p>\n
The New Orleans Saints, if Bain really does slide, would be faced with potentially having to pick the type of player they historically have avoided. The Saints like their edge rushers to be tall, athletic freaks. That\u2019s not Bain.<\/p>\n
In addition to his shorter arms, Bain is considered undersized at 6-foot-2 and 277 pounds. But he\u2019s undeniably bendy and is coming off a season in which he solidified his status as one of the nation\u2019s top edge rushers for Miami with 9\u00bd sacks.<\/p>\n
The Saints have indicated they\u2019re open to a new approach after last year\u2019s change in scheme under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re looking at a different prototype of player,\u201d Saints assistant general manager Jeff Ireland said at the Senior Bowl last month. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at different length and size. Around here with Sean (Payton) \u2026 we wanted big power guys, power rushers. We\u2019re looking for a little different athlete. Size isn\u2019t a premium as much as the athleticism is.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that only helps us. That creates actually more bodies, more swings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Picking Bain would represent a departure from the Saints\u2019 status quo. But that was arguably needed even before the scheme change, following a series of high-profile draft misses at defensive end that included Marcus Davenport, Payton Turner and Isaiah Foskey. And though the Saints had two pass rushers finish with 10-sack campaigns last season, New Orleans could still use another impact pass rusher after ranking 21st in quarterback pressure percentage.<\/p>\n
Bain would welcome the opportunity. He said it would be a \u201cblessing\u201d to team up with Chase Young, whom Bain said he \u201cgrew up\u201d watching and has followed the trajectory of his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tell you probably every highlight he had his rookie year,\u201d Bain said.<\/p>\n
Bain also said he had a formal interview with the Saints, adding he felt it went \u201cgreat.\u201d He said he tried to be overly prepared for the meetings he had this week as part of a schedule that has been almost nonstop since Bain competed in the CFP national championship game.<\/p>\n
With his college season ending only a month ago, Bain has had to resume his training at a slower pace than admittedly he would like. He reportedly won\u2019t be participating in the combine drills this week.<\/p>\n
But Bain still has a chance to make an impression. He spoke about also interviewing with the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans \u2014 the latter of whom would reunite Bain with his former college quarterback in Cam Ward. Bain said Ward, the first overall pick in 2025, has told him he would advocate for the Titans to pick him at No. 4.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no guarantee Bain will go that high. As silly as it can seem, the concern about Bain\u2019s arm length could be a legitimate obstacle.<\/p>\n
When Campbell struggled down the stretch of his rookie season \u2014 including mightily in the Super Bowl \u2014 his pre-draft narrative was reignited to the point that some analysts wondered whether the Patriots would be better off moving Campbell to guard.<\/p>\n
But the arm length debate simply boils down to each team\u2019s philosophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome guys have shorter arms that play with great length and extension all the time,\u201d Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters told reporters at the combine. \u201cSome guys have really long arms that don’t use that, their length as well. So, you know, it’s great to have that length, but it’s also how they use it and how it comes out on the tape.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bain said his film speaks for itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re the best player in the draft, in my opinion, I\u2019m going to come in with the mindset to work every day, prove myself in the locker room and just be the person that I am,\u201d Bain said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Rueben Bain is the new Will Campbell. Each draft cycle, there\u2019s at least one prospect who\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,4095,896,55,2572,2571,6,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-777545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-hardwall","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanssaints","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-saints"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116137050214764688","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}