The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wrapped up the preseason with a 19-0 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday night. Now the attention shifts to coach Todd Bowles and his staff as they piece together the 53-man roster over the weekend with the 2026 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 13 looming.

While plenty of tough decisions remain, some names are locks to make the roster and contribute from day one. Perhaps the most intriguing group on the entire roster is the Buccaneers’ edge rushing room, which has been among the most retooled units on the team.

Rueben Bain Jr. has shined during camp and preseason

The group will be led by a rookie in first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr., who showed a ton of potential during training camp and the preseason. Bain looked almost unblockable at times, generating more than his fair share of pressure against Tampa Bay’s first-team offensive line and against Jacksonville’s offensive linemen during joint practices over the past week.

Bain currently holds the highest odds on DraftKings (+450) and FanDuel (+470) to win Defensive Rookie of the Year, and there’s plenty of reason to believe he could be in for a significant rookie campaign.

ESPN leaves Bain off list of 50 players with most projected sacks

That being said, ESPN doesn’t appear to share that optimism, or at least their numbers don’t. ESPN analytics writer Seth Walder published his list of the projected top 50 pass rushers this year by projected mean sack total, and Bain’s name was nowhere to be found. Two Buccaneers did make the list in defensive lineman Calijah Kancey and edge rusher Yaya Diaby. However, the rookie who currently has the best Defensive Rookie of the Year odds in the league was left off entirely.

To put it in perspective, even Atlanta Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr., who has been suspended for the first eight games of the season, landed on the list at No. 46. It’s mind-boggling that Bain’s projection would fall below the top 50 pass rushers in the league. The 49th and 50th players on the list are projected at a mean total of 5.6 sacks, meaning ESPN’s model doesn’t expect Bain to reach the six-sack mark this season.

To me, six sacks for Bain is a low bar, and one that, based on early returns from his play in camp and the preseason, he should surpass and then some for the Bucs this year. Bain has certainly been a player who takes motivation and uses it as fuel. This is just another example of the doubt he’s been handed from those who don’t believe he’ll succeed at the NFL level.

We’ll find out soon enough if Bain can surpass those surprisingly low expectations, with Tampa Bay set to kick off the 2026 season in just two weeks.