Before the 2026 Scouting Combine, projections for Rueben Bain Jr. positioned him as potentially the first defensive player off the board in the 2026 NFL Draft. For a team selecting later in the top 10, such as the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 9 overall, Bain seemed like an unlikely reach. Funny how things change.
In his latest mock draft, The Athletic's Dane Brugler has a gift for Chiefs fans hoping that an impact edge defender like Bain will fall to Kansas City.
Bain's resume as a ferocious defensive end out of the University of Miami should keep him from falling very far. His tremendous power and relentless motor already set him apart, with an understanding of hand usage and leverage that consistently get the best of his opponent. The production was proven at the highest levels, all the way to a national championship game against Indiana. In his career, Bain has 33.5 tackles for loss and 20.5 sacks.
The Chiefs would be ecstatic if the draft fell to them the way Dane Brugler thinks it might.
While Bain's body of work and intangibles cannot be questioned, his measurements at the Combine came up (literally) short. With an arm length under 31 inches, draft analysts were left wondering how Bain's lack of length might play at the next level, where it's hard to find a successful example with those measurements.
The uncertainty around Bain's ability to mimic his dominance in the NFL is what might drop him below the draft class's other elite defenders. Teams looking for an edge rusher early on may feel more comfortable going with Texas Tech pass rusher David Bailey or a safer prospect at another position—e.g., Ohio State safety Caleb Downs or linebacker Sonny Styles. And that could play in the Chiefs' favor.
Kansas City desperately needs a difference maker on the outside in the team's pass rush. George Karlaftis is a high-motor player on one side, but with an aging Chris Jones being tasked with so much responsibility in the middle, the Chiefs lack any respect-demanding option. Ashton Gillotte is a nice prospect who improved as the season progressed, but the Chiefs will lose Charles Omenihu in free agency, and Felix Anudike-Uzomah is a wild card returning from a missed season due to injury.
The ability to add a player like Bain on the outside would go a long way toward establishing a new championship foundation for the Chiefs on defense. Together with Karlaftis, the Chiefs would have a pair of impactful edge rushers who could take the pressure off of the secondary to keep playing at such a high level. In an offseason that could feature losses of Jaylen Watson, Bryan Cook, and even Trent McDuffie, that's a huge win.