It wasn’t hard to find mock drafts predicting edge rusher Rueben Bain would be off the board in the first 10 picks, but it wound up being a little later in the first round before his name was called.
Bain remained available until the Buccaneers plucked him with the 15th overall selection, which is often the kind of scenario that leads to players saying they’ll have an extra chip on their shoulder toward the teams that passed on him. Bain avoided going to that well in his first press conference with the Bucs, however.
Bain said his “mindset is always to have a bit of edge to me” and that his experience with the draft last Thursday isn’t going to alter that.
“I feel like it won’t change anything,” Bain said, via a transcript from the team. “My motivation is myself. I always want to be the best player on the field no matter what. No outside factor is going to kind of weigh into that. I’m going to play the game just as if I was playing anybody else – that’s with all my effort. When you see that, people are going to see the kind of player I am.”
Bucs General Manager Jason Licht said it was a pleasant surprise that Bain was available to the team with the 15th pick and they’ll continue to celebrate their good fortune if his college production carries over to the NFL ranks.
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