TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are counting on first-round draft pick Rueben Bain Jr. to make a significant difference in their defense.
The explosive edge rusher helped the Miami Hurricanes reach the college football national championship game last season, and the Bucs are confident his physical and emotional style of play will help them improve while regaining some of the swagger they lost during a second-half collapse in 2025.
“He plays
with a mentality — a no-losing mentality — at all times,” coach Todd Bowles said. “He fights and plays with the right kind of attitude and mentality that we're trying to bring to this team.”
Tampa Bay dropped seven of nine games following a 6-2 start, stumbling to an 8-9 finish that halted a stretch of five consecutive playoff appearances.
Bain and second-round selection Josiah Trotter, son of former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Sr., join a defense that's being revamped in hopes of helping Baker Mayfield get the Bucs back on track.
Trotter, younger brother of 2024 Eagles draft pick Jeremiah Trotter, Jr., will have an opportunity to fill an opening created by linebacker Lavonte David's retirement.
“Josiah, he's just been groomed to play football his whole life growing up with his dad and his brother getting drafted a few years ago,” Bucs vice president of player personnel Mike Biehl said.
The lack of a consistent pass rush undermined Tampa Bay's bid for a fifth straight NFC South title last season. The team finished with 37 sacks, it's lowest total under Bowles, who joined the Bucs as defensive coordinator in 2019 and was promoted to head coach three years later.
The selection of Bane, who remained a top prospect despite published reports linking him to a 2024 traffic collision that resulted in the death of a passenger, addressed the team's biggest off-season need.
Bowles called to the decision take him No. 15 overall a “no-brainer.”
“It's beneficial that we addressed it with him," Bowles said. “There's a bunch of edge rushers in this draft. Not many can play like he plays, and play with the attitude he plays with, and the heavy hands he plays with, and fits the scheme that we play with, as well as the people he's going to be working with.”
In addition to losing David, who retired after 14 seasons, the Bucs parted ways with starting cornerback Jamel Dean and linebacker Haason Reddick, who became free agents. Offensively, wide receiver Mike Evans and running back Rachaad White signed with San Francisco and Washington, respectively, in free agency.
General manager Jason Licht began revamping the defense by signing pass rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad and veteran linebackers Alex Anzalone and Christian Rozeboom in free agency. Four of the Bucs' seven draft picks are defensive players, while third-round selection Ted Hurst of Georgia State joins a highly regarded group of wide receivers on the roster.
David played his entire career with Tampa Bay. Evans, a 10-time 1,000-yard receiver and the franchise's receiving, touchdowns and scoring leader, departed this winter after 11 years.
And while the Bucs have high expectations for Bain and Trotter, it will be difficult to replace the leadership of a pair of long-time captains.
Trotter played at Missouri in 2025 after spending two years at West Virginia.
“I'm never going to compare anybody to Lavonte David, first of all, but he has those qualities, though, as far as the potential to have an impact on our defense and in the locker room as a whole,” vice president of player personnel Mike Biehl said.
Hurst, who joins a receiving corps that includes Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson, is 6-foot-4, 210 pounds and ran a 4.40-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine.
“We're never going to try and replace Mike, but you do try to replace size and speed, which Mike had, and we think Ted has that, too,” Biehl said.
The Bucs selected five players over the final four rounds, adding versatile Miami defensive back Keionte Scott in the fourth, Clemson defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart and Notre Dame guard Billy Schrauth in the fifth, and LSU tight end Bauer Sharp in the sixth.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
