There was one meme that dominated the wake of the NFL draft — a 1-minute-long video that seemed to highlight exactly who the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted in the 1st round with the No. 15 overall pick, defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr.
In the video, a series of smiley-faced 1st round picks walk up to the NFL’s “Draft Mirror” and pose with the hats from their respective teams to the tunes of The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” — one of the happier songs of all time.
In the last few seconds of the video, it transitions to darker music — think villain music from any superhero movie. It shows Bain angrily snatching his hat, not stopping to pose in the mirror, and reloading his arms like he’s ready for a fight, a la Henry Cavill’s character in “Mission Impossible: Fallout” — you know the move.
The supercuts of Bain’s walk to the stage to meet NFL commissioner Roger Goodell quickly went viral and put old-school NFL pundits and general managers into their own smiley-faced mode.
That included the man who put together the NFL’s best defense in Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio.
Caserio puts together a “Dawg Board” of the best and toughest players in every draft — this year’s version apparently featured Bain in a very prominent position.
“(Bain) was on the Dawg Board for sure,” Caserio said during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday. “Just a good player … just a very, very good player.”
Rueben Bain Jr. Called ‘Noted Grudge Holder’
The writing was on the wall before the draft that Bain always shows up to play the game of football with a nasty attitude.
“Note taker, grudge holder and block destructor with a compact frame and defensive tackle play strength,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote. “Bain is ill-tempered with his take-ons, hitting blockers with heavy hand strikes. He plays through tight ends and can anchor against tackles and double teams.”
Bain could very well become the player Tampa Bay builds its entire defense around. He’s a 3-down defender who can line up everywhere from edge rusher to a defensive end in a 3-4 alignment or, in a pinch, could slide down to defensive tackle when he has to — and has been the most dominant player on every level of football he’s played to this point.
Bucs Receive Rare Grade for 1st Round Draft Pick
Bain fell to the Buccaneers at No. 15 overall only due to a pre-draft scandal that saw him kicked out of the Top 10 — and left the Buccaneers stunned at the wild twist of fate.
Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski handed the Buccaneers an “A+” grade.
“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just made a statement,” Sobleski wrote. “The organization waded through all of the noise and landed an elite prospect. Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. was an every-down disruptor the past season. His power to rock blockers is an absolute joy to watch. Then again, too many allowed one number to blur the evaluation.”
As the No. 15 overall pick, Bain is projected to receive a fully guaranteed 4-year, $23.7 million rookie contract.
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