The 2026 Draft Thread - 1st Round - 7th overall

I think I’m going to start prepping myself for Delane or Tate, instead of Styles or Love.

Good news is, less than 3 weeks to the draft.
 
Conn said:
Doubtful, but boy he can tweet

Oh and his bio says he’s a scratch golfer and that he’s got a PhD in knowing ball , so…question at your own risk, sir
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Well. He’s definitely more qualified than Thor Nystrom.

Which isn’t saying much. Thor is as qualified at his job as I am to fly fighter jets. And I don’t have depth perception.
 
people want the scouts on Bain, not the twitter scouts, here it is

www.golongtd.com

Part 8, Edge: Deep 2026 class promises to torment quarterbacks

David Bailey, Rueben Bain will go early, but they're far from alone. NFL scouts dissect one of the deepest Edge classes in recent memory. As always, however, there are red flags to examine.
www.golongtd.com www.golongtd.com

RUEBEN BAIN, Miami (6-2, 264, no 40, 1): Third-year junior started all three years. “Good football player,” one scout said.

“He’s a power player. He runs through people. Uses his hands pretty well. Can collapse the pocket. Has short arms. Not the rangiest body type. Doesn’t have a ton of speed. He’s not your historical top-5, top-10 D-lineman.” Arms were merely 30 7/8. Hands were small, too (9 1/8). “I think he’ll be the first defensive lineman or edge guy taken since ’99 or something with under 31-inch arms,” a second scout said. “He’ll be a major outlier. He’s super physical and aggressive but Bain is a tweener. He’s got no position. He’s not tall or lanky enough to be a defensive end. He’s not really athletic or fast enough to be an outside backer. And he’s too small to be a defensive tackle. Does he have a motor? Yes. Does he have physical hands? Yes. Is he active with his hands? Yes. As a technician, he’s going to wear a lot of bad college linemen out with his hands and effort. He did that. But, wow, do I think he’s going to get blocked in the NFL? I do.”

Finished with 121 tackles (33 ½ for loss), 20 ½ sacks, four forced fumbles and two batted passes. “His quickness and power are just outstanding,” said a third scout. “He’s violent in how he plays. He’s always around the quarterback. He’s going to be the exception to the rule because I don’t think he’s very fast. He’s probably smart he didn’t run because I think he’d run around 4.8. I like edge rushers that have speed but he’s an anomaly for me. There are a lot of other parts of his game that he will compensate with.” Compared by one scout to Kwity Paye. “Those short arms and that size will be a concern,” a fourth scout said. “More of an overachiever-type athlete than a natural, fluid, silky kind of dude. But you love the way he plays. He’s tough as hell. Best thing about his pass rush is he’s relentless. Gives effort against the run. Kills the tight ends. He gets smothered up a little bit by those big (tackles). They’ll get him. He’s like a Brandon Graham.” Four-star recruit from Miami, where he led Central High to four straight state titles and amassed 77 sacks. “He’s a really, really good college player,” a fifth scout said. “When I watch him against some of the better tackles he struggled a little bit. His best shot’s going to be as a 4-3 D-end. To me, if I’m going to take him top 15, I’m hoping to get somebody that’s going to come in and give me eight sacks and build up to like double digits in the next year or two. I don’t know that that’s what he is.”
 
Sure. And McShay and Muensch came out and said fuck the arm length shit.

None of this is new. It’s the same thing over and over.

We’ll see what happens.
 
KDawg said:
Sure. And McShay and Muensch came out and said fuck the arm length shit.

None of this is new. It’s the same thing over and over.

We’ll see what happens.
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I’m not saying he’s wrong about arm length in this one instance, but I feel like McShay is way more of a click bait guy these days.

Hate the idea of Dallas trading up for Bailey. I hope Tennessee catches wind and decides to move up for Bailey themselves if he’s there.
 
Anselmheifer said:
I’m not saying he’s wrong about arm length in this one instance, but I feel like McShay is way more of a click bait guy these days.

Hate the idea of Dallas trading up for Bailey. I hope Tennessee catches wind and decides to move up for Bailey themselves if he’s there.
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I don’t agree. I think McShay has his takes and he sticks to them and he is less of a click bait guy than he was at ESPN. Hell, I don’t agree with a lot of what he says, sometimes I do agree. But I don’t think he’s click baity. I think he sticks to his guns.

He often thinks out loud on his pods. He was talking about Simpson glowingly, then the Dan O stuff happened and he thought Dan went a bit over the top, now he is saying that he really likes Ty but he’s not sure where he can land in the first.

I personally don’t care what any of these guys say aside from character stuff we don’t always hear.

But listening can be fun.

I don’t find information about Bain having short arms to be new. I don’t find guys hesitant on Bain to be new.

It is what it is. I’m on my island with Bain / Bailey. And I own it.

But more posts about Bain having short arms don’t add much to the conversation
 
KDawg said:
Sure. And McShay and Muensch came out and said fuck the arm length shit.

None of this is new. It’s the same thing over and over.

We’ll see what happens.
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No doubt, it reminds me of Haskins (RIP) the draft media versus the scouts. In that case the scouts won out. this time is could be the reverse will see.

But yeah the cool narrative with the draft media, its not just with Bain, is F the measures who gives a crap, he's just a football player who produces.
 
I am on the fence about Bain, I could see it working, I could see it not. If it works IMO its ironically about his core strength, lower body, where his lack of length gives him leverage and helps with his bend because his lower center of gravity (giving him the balance to make his bend work) coupled with active hands and a non stop motor. If it fails IMO its a combination of lack of length and lack of speed-agility in dealing with the longer-more athletic typical LT in the league.
 
Anselmheifer said:
I’m not saying he’s wrong about arm length in this one instance, but I feel like McShay is way more of a click bait guy these days.

Hate the idea of Dallas trading up for Bailey. I hope Tennessee catches wind and decides to move up for Bailey themselves if he’s there.
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McShay's show IMO is great. There is always a little clickbait with all these guys because heck its a business. But his show is my fav right now. Maybe he's a bit too enthusiastic about players, he's got some Logan Paulsen in him, where the glass is always half full but I don't mind that.

But yeah as far as Bain goes -- the draft media is consistent. It's not just with him. Over the years, they fall in love with production. And its sort of cool to go on TV and the radio and go off about that silly combine, and metrics and who gives a crap -- in Scot McCloughan style voice lol they will say he's a football player, enough said.

I know there are differences and I like Bain's chances much more so than Ryan Anderson. But some of the narrative about both players remind me of each other -- and I recall most of the draft media were like get out of here about Ryan's meh combine, short arms, etc -- the dude is a baller, leader, look at his stats, look at what Saban says about him, etc. He's too much of a leader, and plays too angry and tough to fail.

So in short, I'd expect the draft media to have Bain's back. They typically do in the production versus measurables debate.
 
Most of the national media guys have a real hard time pushing realism on a player's chances. If Mel Kiper was to proclaim "I think this player is a bust waiting to happen" or even worse "Teams think there are serious character problems here and he's not a team player." He could open himself to lawsuits where he would have to expose his sources.
 
skinsinparadise said:
McShay's show IMO is great. There is always a little clickbait with all these guys because heck its a business. But his show is my fav right now. Maybe he's a bit too enthusiastic about players, he's got some Logan Paulsen in him, where the glass is always half full but I don't mind that.
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I’ve only seen his shorts on YouTube. He probably makes those shorts specifically because they are hot takes. Maybe I should give the actual show a chance.
 
SkinDeep said:
Most of the national media guys have a real hard time pushing realism on a player's chances. If Mel Kiper was to proclaim "I think this player is a bust waiting to happen" or even worse "Teams think there are serious character problems here and he's not a team player." He could open himself to lawsuits where he would have to expose his sources.
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Mmhmm.

Same goes for every player.

Yet many of them speak their minds on many of the prospects… and no one is shy about Bain’s arms despite people saying the media won’t say anything about that.

They are.

In volume.

And to that all I have to say is: we’ll see. Someone will be right. Someone will be wrong.
 
Anselmheifer said:
I’ve only seen his shorts on YouTube. He probably makes those shorts specifically because they are hot takes. Maybe I should give the actual show a chance.
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The shorts are just small segments of his show. They took his show off YouTube and you have to have Netflix or Spotify to watch/listen in full now.

It’s the best draft show.

I don’t agree with him or Mensch all the time. But neither of those guys pull punches. They aren’t overly critical in their stances because… these are still kids they’re talking about. But they let you know when they are nervous or when they are out on a limb.

And some of their takes are way off on mine.

Some are lock step.

I still appreciate where they stand. They are very good.
 
KDawg said:
The shorts are just small segments of his show. They took his show off YouTube and you have to have Netflix or Spotify to watch/listen in full now.

It’s the best draft show.

I don’t agree with him or Mensch all the time. But neither of those guys pull punches. They aren’t overly critical in their stances because… these are still kids they’re talking about. But they let you know when they are nervous or when they are out on a limb.

And some of their takes are way off on mine.

Some are lock step.

I still appreciate where they stand. They are very good.
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It is a great show. Not sure about the pull punches part, a little bit more so from Mensch. Todd is typically about hyping the prospects he likes.

For what its worth, he actually shares the intel he gets. Usually the criticism from him is him repeating what he's heard from his FO sources
 
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