Carson Beck’s career resurgence stole the headlines at Miami for the first few weeks of the season, but Mario Cristobal’s best player this season, and maybe the best player in the entire country, has been on the defensive side of the ball.
Rueben Bain Jr. leads the Canes with four tackles for loss, and is second to his running mate, Akheem Mesidor, with 2.0 sacks, both to close out victories in the fourth quarter. His 19 quarterback pressures, which Mesidor has matched, have the duo tied for sixth in the country, and Bain’s 28.9 percent pass rush win rate is fourth best nationally (Mesidor is 2nd at 30.1 percent).
It’s been a remarkable start for the junior defensive lineman, and he has quickly generated buzz for the 2026 NFL Draft. With his impressive 6-foot-3, 270-pound frame, Bain has already cemented a place in the first round next spring, but he could play his way into the No. 1 overall pick.
On This is Football, with Miami alum Kevin Clark of ESPN, Cristobal made the case for his superstar edge rusher as a top prospect.
I asked Mario Cristobal what he'll one day tell scouts about Rueben Bain Jr. He was great.
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) September 23, 2025
"He loves the physicality of the game, he throws his body around recklessly, he has some of the heaviest hands you'll ever see. People don't realize he's 275 pounds and runs like he 225." pic.twitter.com/fPwmVV5BPl
Rueben Bain is a surefire top pick and could be the national defensive player of the year
College Football has two defensive player of the year trophies, the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, both awarded by different entities. At this point, through four weeks of the season, Bain should be the overwhelming favorite for both.
Cristobal said it himself, “Rueben Bain has really, in my opinion, separated himself as one of the best, if not the best player in the country.”
While Mesidor has been nearly as impressive on the other side, matching Bain’s quarterback pressures and outdoing his pass-rush win rate, in some ways, he’s a beneficiary of Bain’s dominance. Bain is the one primarily drawing the double teams and chips, allowing Mesidor to work one-on-one more consistently, and that’s an impossible task for any offensive tackle.
Bain’s versatility to slide up and down the defensive line will be appealing to NFL evaluators, but he’s best on the edge. That’s where he’s taken the overwhelming majority of his snaps this season and displays unique quickness and bend for a player of his size.
Bain has already broken out as a college football star, but he’ll have an even bigger showcase off Miami’s bye when the Canes head to Tallahassee for a top 10 showdown with Florida State.