Rueben Bain Jr. was arguably the most dominant defensive player in college football last season, virtually unblockable on Miami’s run to the national championship game. But while that performance has landed him among the top defensive players in the 2026 NFL Draft, he still enters the NFL Combine this week with more to prove than you might expect.

While it’s impossible to argue against Bain Jr.’s production, the NFL hates outliers, and his stocky frame at 6-foot-3, 275 pounds isn’t what you typically see from the best edge rushers in the league. Bain Jr. is going to need to test well in Indy to put those fears to rest — starting with the 40-yard dash. What sort of time can we expect Bain Jr. to run, and what does he need to shore up his draft stock?

Rueben Bain Jr. 40 time prediction and projection

Anyone who watched Bain Jr. work at Miami knows that he’s not lacking for burst despite his large frame. But how will that manifest itself in a drill like the 40-yard dash — a longer distance than edge rushers typically deal with?

To answer that question, let’s first establish a baseline. At last year’s NFL Combine, 18 edge rushers ran the 40. The best time of the bunch, by far, was Tennessee EDGE David Pearce Jr., who clocked a blistering 4.47. But that doesn’t really help us much: At 6-foot-5, 243 pounds, Pearce Jr. is a much different build, and a much different player, than Bain Jr., who was listed last season at 6-foot-3 and 275.

The closest parallel from last year’s Combine, at least among edge rushers who ran the 40, was Oregon’s Jordan Burch, who posted a 4.67 at 6-foot-4 and 279 pounds. That feels like a more realistic number for Bain Jr. — maybe a tick or so less, given that Burch is a longer, leaner athlete. But it seems safe to assume that Bain Jr. can land somewhere in that low-4.6 range; the average of the 18 edge times at last year’s Combine was 4.68. Anything above 4.70 would invite questions about whether he really is a good enough athlete to play on the outside.

40-yard dash prediction: 4.69

What range is Rueben Bain Jr. projected to be drafted?

The answer to that question has a lot to do with what happens over the next few days in Indianapolis. Right now, Bain Jr. is neck-and-neck with Texas Tech’s David Bailey for the honor of top-ranked pure EDGE in this draft class. And given how important getting after the quarterback is these days, that has him projected comfortably within the top 10: The Athletic’s most recent consensus big board had him at No. 6 overall, while our own Cody Williams had him going No. 2 overall to the Jets in his most recent mock draft.

But the NFL Draft is also a matter of projection; sure, Bain Jr. led the country in pressures and physically overwhelmed just about every line he went up against in 2025, but he wouldn’t be the first college star whose game didn’t translate at the highest level. And if Bain Jr. doesn’t meet some of the physical benchmarks that teams require from their pass rushers — his arms, in particular, might be among the shortest ever recorded at the position — his stock might be in trouble.

Still, even if he doesn’t measure well in Indy, my bet is the production and the tape will still leave him with a top-10 floor. It’s that good, and the reality is that every other EDGE in this class comes with at least one red flag. Bain Jr. is the most proven of the bunch, and that’ll be hard to overlook for teams that need pass rush without an obvious alternate candidate.

NFL Draft projection: Top-10 pick

Potential Rueben Bain Jr. landing spots in the 2026 NFL Draft

Tennessee Titans (No. 4 overall)

Jeffrey Simmons is in desperate need of a running mate on the other side of Tennessee’s line, and you know that new head coach Robert Saleh is going to want to build his Titans the same way he built the 49ers and Jets: through a ferocious front four. Tennessee has a ton of needs, and a trade back could certainly be in the cards, but simply taking the best available EDGE could be the ideal blend of filling a need and taking the best player available.

Washington Commanders (No. 7 overall)

Quinn, too, loves to get pressure with his defensive front without having to bring too many extra bodies. He couldn’t do that in Washington last year, where Von Miller was the only player to record more than 5.5 sacks. Dorance Armstrong is a fine player, but he’s hardly a star, and he’s also entering the final year of his contract. The Commanders need to find their star pass rusher of the future as soon as possible.

Cincinnati Bengals (No. 10 overall)

This feels like the absolute floor for Bain Jr. Among Cincy’s myriad problems on defense was the fact that they got absolutely nothing from their pass rush absent Trey Hendrickson, and in case you hadn’t heard, Hendrickson almost certainly won’t be wearing a Bengals uniform next season. Cincinnati needs more defensive talent at every level, but EDGE is arguably the most glaring weakness of the bunch, and it’s hard to imagine them not leaping at the chance to draft Bain Jr. if he falls this far.

Rueben Bain Jr. stats and draft info from Miami

A four-star recruit (and the No. 10 EDGE prospect, per the 247Sports composite) in the 2023 class, Bain Jr. opted to stay home with the Hurricanes after playing his high school ball at nearby Miami Central High School. He burst onto the scene almost immediately as a freshman, racking up 7.5 sacks and forcing three fumbles in his first year of college ball — a performance that put him on everyone’s draft radars.

He went through a bit of a sophomore slump in 2024, posting just 3.5 sacks in eight games played as he battled a soft tissue injury. Finally healthy last season, though, he made good on all that potential, earning ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors while being named a consensus All-American.

Rueben Bain Jr. college stats