I'm not sure who rushes the passer more in Tampa right now, Rueben Bain or Keionte Scott.

The Bucs went to Dallas on Thursday night and won, two of our favorite Canes were on the field for it, and I came away frustrated anyway.

"As if he is Deion Sanders"​

Ahmmon saw the same thing I did.

"They're dropping Bain as if he is Deion Sanders," he said. "It's the craziest thing to me."

He figured that in Todd Bowles' defense Bain would be a pure rush guy, or in the worst case bump inside a little.

Instead he's backing out into the flats.

If you're going to drop a lineman, you drop the longer one, and he could see that argument for a guy built like Akheem Mesidor. Bain's size and build are the opposite of that.

Every defensive coach I talk to says the same thing, that fans always complain about it, everybody does it, and you have to have it in your bag.

Here at UM it was a changeup. In Tampa it's close to every other play, which makes it a core part of the scheme. He doesn't have the length, he isn't the fastest guy in the world and he's never played off the ball.

"I feel like it would be so simple," Ahmmon said. "Let Bain rush the passer. Let your cornerbacks play. If you want to bring an extra guy in the box, you got Keionte Scott. Let the four guys rush, man. Stop dropping this dude in the flats."

I'd still be patient with Bain. We got frustrated with him at times too, and his sack numbers came in the playoffs more than the middle of the season.

Scott is doing exactly what he did here​

Seven tackles, all over the field, and he never came off it down the stretch. For a fourth-round pick, that's a great start.

He's fast, he tackles and he plays well in space, and he's already starting and making impact plays. Ahmmon expects him to keep getting better as the game slows down for him.

What a new coordinator did for Greg Rousseau​

This is why I'm not panicking about Bain.

Rousseau was already good in Buffalo. Then the Bills brought in a new defensive coordinator and I don't think it's a crazy statement to say he might be the best defensive player in the league through the first five weeks.

He's leading the league in sacks, tackles for loss and forced fumbles. Add in what he does against the run and it's Myles Garrett type production.

Ahmmon, who is close with him, said Rousseau is playing that Florida State game from 2019 just about every week now. Nobody can block him.

"It takes a great DC or a great coach to get the best out of his players," Ahmmon said.

Some coordinators didn't know what they had in Rousseau either. I'm hoping the same thing happens for Bain.

It's been a while since Thursday nights looked like this​

Think about the generations. Butch Davis and Larry Coker stocked the league with Pro Bowlers you saw every week. Under Randy Shannon and Al Golden the picks weren't as high, but a lot of those guys made rosters and lasted.

Where it really dropped off, quite frankly, was Mark Richt and Manny Diaz.

Ahmmon's own class is the one that gets me. It could have been one of the best in program history, and the decommitments killed it.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was committed to that class. So were Jawaan Taylor, Josh Uche, James Pierre, James Wiggins and Zack Moss. Then Ahmmon and Malek Young, two guys who were headed to the league, had their careers ended by injuries. Put all of them together with what Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney gave us and that's something like ten NFL players in one class.

"Sometimes things have to happen for what we're seeing right now to be here," he said. "Maybe in some alternate universe those guys come, Coach Richt is still coaching and Mario's still at Oregon. You never know."

I'll take this universe. The program is in a great place, the development is real and there are Canes worth watching on Thursday nights again. Now somebody in Tampa needs to let Bain rush.

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He’s barely played over 100 snaps this year , then he’s rushed just a tad over half his snaps So he hasn’t played much because of multiple injuries and when he does play he’s dropping almost half the time . Imo that theory doesn’t jive.

I only watch the bucs bec of him and keonte and Ive watched all of their games and when he is out there and when he has rushed it’s non existent. The tackles are swallowing him up. I said something is off. So injured or overthinking whatever but I don’t see any of their other players being as ineffective as he has been. I really thought he would dominate and have been talking mad **** about him.

 

I am a Bain fan but I am just keeping it 100. He has not been good. Ain’t no other way to say it. I have not given up on him but I also have to accept what I am seeing.

It’s not a good look when we have to blame coaches and scheme for a players play.

Just shut the **** up for all of us

 

Post less dikweed

I really think using the term a $$ blood would be more suited here than dikweed

 

Ive found it very interesting (not really i know why), people are incredibly quick to call UM guys a bust a turn on them.

Cam Ward is improving and on par with other top picks statistically, and the hate he is receiving and calling him trash is out of this world. The quickest I've ever seen for a #1 overall pick.

Bain, 4 games in his career and hurt, people calling him one of the biggest 1st round busts already and writing him off.

Your stats are your stats and that is just me keeping it 100. I love Bain but it’s hard to defend his play at this point and the noise is just going to grow unless he starts playing better.

I am not worried about him being a bust but I definitely understand the noise

 

Your stats are your stats and that is just me keeping it 100. I love Bain but it’s hard to defend his play at this point and the noise is just going to grow unless he starts playing better.

I am not worried about him being a bust but I definitely understand the noise

Pipe down as*blood

 

Pipe down as*blood

Bain hasn’t played well so far, and that’s just facts. There’s really no way to sugarcoat it. The criticism is fair, and until his play improves, there’s going to be noise about his performance. That’s just part of being a first-round pick.

Since people have asked, here’s my assessment of him.

I think people need to understand that one of the biggest adjustments for rookie defensive ends is learning that the moves that made them dominant in college don’t always translate immediately to the NFL. You’re now going against stronger, more experience. These tackles know how to neutralize those moves.

Now, there are some legitimate concerns with Bain. It’s not just the lack of sacks. It’s the lack of consistent pressure, his struggles winning one-on-one matchups, and the fact that he hasn’t really made much of an impact when he’s been on the field. Those are things you can’t just ignore.

Has he been good, absolutely not but people online saying he is a bust is crazy. We’ve seen first-round defensive ends like Rashan Gary, Brandon Graham, and Greg Rousseau take time to develop before becoming productive NFL players.

For me, what I want to see moving forward isn’t necessarily sacks right away. I want to see him generating more pressure, developing additional pass-rush moves, improving against the run, and showing progress from week to week.

If we’re halfway through next season and we’re still having these same conversations, then I think the concerns become much bigger.

 

Time will tell. The NFL is not college ball where the tackle you are rushing against is going to be selling insurance for State Farm soon.

 

idk why you guys are jumping down the one guys throat lol. He’s had a rough go so far. I see clips going around Instagram all the time. That said 1. Sounds like he’s banged up. And 2. He’s young, he only played 3 years here. So it’s not over for him by any stretch of the imagination.

I adore the guy. He was the soul the resurrection of the program. It’s possible the length thing actually does matter in the pros. We’ll find out. Sounds like the scheme is doing him no favors.

 

He’s barely played over 100 snaps this year , then he’s rushed just a tad over half his snaps So he hasn’t played much because of multiple injuries and when he does play he’s dropping almost half the time . Imo that theory doesn’t jive.

Two players I would look at when thinking about Bain’s potential fit as a 3-technique are Aaron Donald and Calijah Kancey. Now, I’m not saying Bain is going to become Aaron Donald, but when you look at their physical builds and how they generate power and leverage, I think there’s some opportunity.

Bain weighed 263 pounds at the combine, so he’d only need to put on about 22 pounds to get to 285, which is around Donald’s playing weight. He’d definitely need to hit the weight room, add some muscle, and get stronger, even though the guy is already strong as an ox.

Bain’s physical makeup might actually be better suited for disrupting offensive guards from the 3-technique rather than consistently trying to beat longer, more athletic NFL tackles off the edge.

I’m not saying you completely abandon him as an edge rusher, but I do think there’s a possibility that his greatest value in the NFL could eventually come from moving him around the defensive line and letting him attack from the inside.

 

idk why you guys are jumping down the one guys throat lol. He’s had a rough go so far. I see clips going around Instagram all the time. That said 1. Sounds like he’s banged up. And 2. He’s young, he only played 3 years here. So it’s not over for him by any stretch of the imagination.

I adore the guy. He was the soul the resurrection of the program. It’s possible the length thing actually does matter in the pros. We’ll find out. Sounds like the scheme is doing him no favors.

This makes way too much sense for this board.

 

idk why you guys are jumping down the one guys throat lol. He’s had a rough go so far. I see clips going around Instagram all the time. That said 1. Sounds like he’s banged up. And 2. He’s young, he only played 3 years here. So it’s not over for him by any stretch of the imagination.

I adore the guy. He was the soul the resurrection of the program. It’s possible the length thing actually does matter in the pros. We’ll find out. Sounds like the scheme is doing him no favors.

I have stopped looking at the X and instagram post. So discouraging and heartbreaking.