Commanders’ potential top 2026 NFL Draft pick didn’t help his stock with historically bad measurements at scouting combine
The Commanders are poised to take a top defender with No. 7 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, but only if they can look past one major red flag.
The Washington Commanders are on site at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana, where they will meet with the top prospects in the draft and watch them perform in drills.
The Commanders have already met with top talent like Jeremiyah Love and the headliners on defense, and now their official measurements are coming in. All options are on the table with the No. 7 overall pick, and you never know how the board will fall.
General manager Adam Peters has another factor to think about with one of the top defenders measuring in with a major red flag at the scouting combine.
Rueben Bain Jr. officially measures in with historically bad arm length
The top prospects are answering the biggest questions surrounding them in the meeting rooms, but also with their measurements. Miami EDGE defender Rueben Bain Jr. will be one of the top players in the draft, but also the most controversial. He didn’t help his case at all after finally having his arm length revealed.
Bain Jr. measured in with 30 7/8″ arms, which is the third-lowest by an EDGE prospect since 1999.
There’s never been an EDGE defender drafted in the top-100 picks with sub 31″ arms, but Bain Jr. will undoubtedly be the first. The biggest question, however, is how high he will be selected. One recent NFL trade shook the NFL Draft board up, and there’s a chance Bain Jr. could fall to the Commanders with the No. 7 overall pick.
Should the Commanders take Rueben Bain Jr. with the No. 7 overall pick?
The Commanders will have a tough decision to make with the No. 7 overall pick in the NFL Draft, and Bain Jr. could be one of those prospects that fall to them with Arvell Reese and David Bailey also available for teams needing an EDGE. Peters talked about the arm length debate during his podium time at the scouting combine, saying it’s about how the player actually uses his length to play.
Bain Jr. said he met with the Commanders, and regardless of the arm length, the film showed that he was the most dominant defender in college football last season. Will that translate to the NFL, however, where everyone is bigger, stronger, and faster? That’s for the Commanders to debate from now until they’re on the clock.
Bain Jr. finished with 10 sacks and 67 pressures in 2025, and he could fill the Commanders’ need at EDGE in a 3-4 or a 4-3 scheme, which Daronte Jones will rotate through next season with different looks.