A pass-rushing defensive lineman out of the University of Miami. A tackling machine at linebacker. That’s a strong starting point when you’re talking about a pair of 21-year-old building blocks for the Bucs.
But slow down on the gold jacket talk. Rueben Bain Jr. isn’t Warren Sapp, nor will Josiah Trotter be compared to Derrick Brooks. You don’t just casually throw around the names of first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame players.
But the Bucs were intentional in the draft. They targeted disruption up front and production behind it. They valued pressure in the trenches and tackles in space.
“I think we realized at the top of the second round there was a chance to be able to do that,” assistant general manager Rob McCartney said at the conclusion of the draft Saturday. “We like the synergy of having a young edge rusher and a young (middle linebacker) to come in and become the identity of our defense, that’s really, you know, two of the more important spots on defense.
“I think we’re really excited to have that youth. You know it’s a year-to-year league, and it’s hard to look past those two and three years sometimes. But to be able to say, ‘Hey, can they have these guys — I think (general manager) Jason (Licht) said it when (Bain) was on the phone, ‘What are you doing for the next five to 10 years?’ So hopefully we’re able to see that through with all of them being in Tampa."
It’s hard to imagine the Bucs’ draft going much better than it did this year.
They not only filled primary needs at edge rusher, inside linebacker, X receiver, cornerback, interior defensive lineman, tight end and offensive guard, but all of those players arrive carrying their own shoulder chips.
The Bucs also talked about wanting to get bigger, particularly on defense.
Trotter is 6 feet 2 and nearly 240 pounds, considerably larger than some of the team’s prototypical linebackers. Bain is 6-3, 275 pounds and doesn’t rely more on speed than power.
“(Trotter is) an old-school, downhill linebacker that can play the run, which is hard to find nowadays,” Bucs vice president of player personnel Mike Biehl said. “With the college game the way it has went, it’s all lateral and everybody is looking for the speed stuff. To us, he has enough speed to play in our league. Now, if you said he’s a better run defender than pass defender? I would say, ‘Yeah, that’s probably fair.’ But we think he has the capability to be a three-down linebacker.”
Bain will force opposing offenses to account for him and not be able to slide all their protection to outside linebacker Yaya Diaby.
That should create more rush opportunities after the Bucs produced only 37 sacks last season, the fewest since Todd Bowles arrived in Tampa Bay as defensive coordinator in 2019.
“I think when you add a player like Rueben and he does what we think he can do, it opens a lot of things up,” Licht said. “It makes everyone along the defensive line better when you can have two edge presences. The line, the protections don’t slide as much; you have to decide where to slide them and it opens things up.
“Potentially now, with David Walker, we have an arsenal right now that we feel good is a very good rotation. With (Al-Quadin Muhammad) and we still have Nelly (Anthony Nelson) and all that. You can’t have too many. I say that every year, but then it doesn’t work out that we can draft one at a premium. But now, we did. Hopefully, we can reap the rewards here.”
Then there’s the edgy attitude the Bucs were trying to identify in each and every draft selection. No more Mr. Nice Guy. That’s always been a desired trait in draft picks but Licht, McCartney and their staff placed an even higher priority on it this year.
“After we drafted Trotter, we were sitting up there talking about teams running the ball against us,” McCartney said. “Just the physicality with (free agent) A’Shawn (Robinson), having Rueben, having Trotter, so just some of the things that may limit opposing offenses to be able to do. Then just throughout the whole draft, just the energy and the pride all these guys really show on the field. ... If you watch them, you should be able to feel their energy, feel their passion for the game. I think that’s something we always try to knock out of the park and I feel pretty good about that with this class.”
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