Rueben Bain Jr. says NFL teams focused on play, not arm length

INDIANAPOLIS — Miami defensive finish Rueben Bain Jr.. He mentioned no staff has talked about arm length to him throughout his interviews, focusing on his play as a substitute.

“People keep bringing that up out of nowhere, but no teams brought it up to me, so I don’t bring it up either,” he mentioned. “As long as I just talk the talk and walk the walk, play with technique, nobody actually cares about it.”

Bain has been a topic of scrutiny over issues about his arm length and the way it can affect his expertise as an edge rusher within the NFL. It did not harm him at Miami, the place he recorded 9.5 sacks this season and 20.5 in his three-year profession.

He mentioned he by no means heard about it as a possible subject till it grew to become a subject of dialog late within the faculty soccer season.

“It kind of surprised me because I never heard it all my life and I just ain’t give it the time of the day honestly,” he mentioned.

Besides, he mentioned, he is satisfied that his play on the sector will matter extra — regardless of the place he is chosen.

“I’m versatile and I got a hot engine,” he mentioned. “I could do it at any position, at any time with the best effort, and it’s on film, it’s not something I’m just seeing.”

And I’ve supplied a robust self-assessment.

“I just know that whatever team ended up picking me, going to get the best out of me, going to get the best player in the draft,” Bain mentioned.

Teams will take arm length into consideration, and Bain measured at 30 7/8 inches — about 2 or 3 inches shorter than desired — which might affect their choice.

If Bain is chosen within the first spherical, his arm length could be the shortest for any edge rusher drafted within the first spherical since 2003, the earliest yr for which ESPN Research has information on. The shortest arm length for a first-round edge rusher since 2003 is 31 3/8 by Miami’s Jerome McDougle, who was the fifteenth total choose by the Philadelphia Eagles within the 2003 draft.

But Tennessee Titans coach Robert Saleh mentioned of Bain, “His tape is undeniable. He’s an unbelievable football player. He plays with great violence. His football IQ is off the charts.”

Miami Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley mentioned they take arm length into consideration on a case-by-case foundation. He mentioned that he has seen shorter-armed edge rushers “get eaten up” however that some gamers are so fast they will get their arms contained in the blocker first.

“In an ideal world, you’d love to have a guy with long arms,” ​​Hafley mentioned. “But there are guys that have shorter arms who are really good edge rushers or really good inside. It can be a conversation at all positions.”

Washington Commanders General supervisor Adam Peters agreed that ideally an edge rusher has lengthy arms. But the analysis extends properly past arm length.

“In terms of guys with shorter arms, there’s a few in this draft that are really, really good players,” Peters mentioned. “It’s great to have that length, but it’s also how they use it and how it comes out on the tape. Some guys can excel with shorter arms by doing things differently.”

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has Bain ranked as his No. 9 total prospect accessible for this yr’s NFL draft.