The Miami football program knows it will have some work to do as this offseason continues in trying to replace the talent walking out the door in both the transfer portal and for the NFL Draft. Among the biggest names departing is that of star defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr., who is expected by many to be one of the first names called off the board at the NFL Draft next month.
At the NFL Combine earlier this offseason, some scouts had concerns about Bain’s relatively short arm length, which has long been viewed as a key indicator of the future success of defensive linemen at the NFL level.
However, one person not on board with those concerns is former general manager Mike Mayock, who recently relayed his thoughts on Bain’s viability as a draft candidate.
“If you’re an evaluator, you look at that and say ‘Does it matter?’ Historically, for 98 percent of the players, it does. For this cat, it doesn’t. And are you willing to put a top ten pick on that?… At the end of the day, if you have really short arms, you need one elite trait to offset that at least, and he has that with power explosion,” said Mayock, per SiriusXM NFL Radio on X, formerly Twitter.
“The bottom line is affecting the quarterback and I think he can do that,” he added.
Indeed, while Bain’s measurables may have left a lot to be desired at the combine, he put relentless pressure on opposing quarterbacks this year at Miami, skyrocketing up draft boards in the process and showcasing a motor that was second to none in the college football landscape.
The NFL Draft is slated to get underway in late April from Pittsburgh.
