One uncontrollable weakness could hurt Rueben Bain Jr.'s NFL Draft stock

Life is not fair. While the NFL Scouting Combine will often make a player more alluring in the eyes of talent evaluators, the medicals and measurables can often ruin a player. That is not to say that will be the case for former Miami Hurricanes star edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr., but this will be an issue. He may have been so productive in college, but his short arms are the talk of the scouting world now...

The NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah relayed what one defensive coordinator had to say about this.

"What's the biggest issue with length, a lack of like? He said, 'Generally, it's finishing. Not as good at extending and separating off blocks. Not as good at extending to get to the elbow, or even wrapping around the quarterback.'"

Jeremiah asked a follow-up question on what it would take for a player like Bain to overcome all this.

"So then the follow-up question was, 'Well, how would you overcome that, in your opinion if you don't have length like Bain?' I said, 'Leverage?' He said, 'For sure. Explosion, using leverage to your advantage. Having the ability to close that ground with your feet because you can't do it with your length.'"

Here is everything that Jeremiah had to say about Bain's short arms while at the NFL Combine.

Jeremiah is not alone in the scouting world when it comes to this potentially being a draft concern regarding Bain. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. said as much when contemplating Bain's undeniable production vs. his glaring length issues. Had Bain not had these measurable issues, he may have been a runaway pick to be the first defensive player taken this spring. He still could, but his draft stock just took a hit.

Truth be told, if Bain is as good as another short-armed edge like Melvin Ingram was, it will not matter.

Rueben Bain's shockingly short arm length is the talk of the NFL Combine

Let's be honest with ourselves. If this does come into play and it prevents Bain from being a top-five pick in this spring's draft like he honestly should, that just means he will end up going to a better-run franchise. Simply put, if dysfunctional teams like the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, and Cleveland Browns opt to pass on him, he will just end up joining a respectable team like the Kansas City Chiefs.

At this stage of the game, anyone and everyone will find something, anything to tear down these prospects. Remember when Joe Burrow had those tiny hands of his? He still went No. 1 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals out of LSU in the 2020 NFL Draft. Will Campbell did not have the longest arms coming out of LSU last spring. He still went No. 4 overall to the New England Patriots in spite of this.

However, at the first sign of any potential NFL failure, this is what people are going to harken back to regarding Bain. They did it with Campbell after a bad Super Bowl showing from only a few weeks ago. Burrow and Michael Penix Jr.'s injury-prone nature are often talked about from the quarterback position. The same thing applies to Kyler Murray's overall lack of size at this notable position as well.

While Bain has the sheer talent to overcome this physical limitation, nobody cared about it last fall...