David Bailey Vs Rueben Bain: Who Is The Better Fit For The Titans

We are one week away from the NFL draft and still to this point there is nothing set in stone after the first overall pick (which will of course be Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders) . The Tennessee Titans are in an odd position, as they have a plethora of options available to them. A couple of their options involve drafting an edge rusher in the first round, rather that is at pick 4 or a trade down.

In these cases, it would likely end up coming down to two players: Rueben Bain out of Miami or David Bailey out of Texas Tech. Both players have a lot of good to them. They are able to dominate offensive tackles with their power and motor.

Rueben Bain:

When it comes to Rueben Bain, he has an impressive arsenal of pass rush moves at his disposal to push through or slide by offensive lineman. He has put up impressive stats during his college tenure: 22.5 sacks, 33.5 TFL, and 4 forced fumbles. He has showcased his ability to dominate the offensive line countless times and really showed up when it mattered in playoff games for the Hurricanes.

This is not to say that Bain is a perfect prospect; his biggest debate is his arm size. Edge rushers in the NFL traditionally have arms that are 33 inches or longer, but Bain falls at around 31 inches. This traditionally does make quite the difference, with the success rate in these shorter arms being much lower than a average edge rusher. It will be up to the young prospect to navigate this negative and show he has the talent and will to be a star NFL player.

He also has found himself involved in a recent controversy after reports of reckless driving that ended up killing a girl in an incident. I do not have all the details nor will choose to elaborate on this, but it is worth noting for his draft stock. I hope he has learned from that incident and is back on track to be a great NFL player. General manager Mike Borgonzi has stated the team has been away of the incident for a long period of time.

David Bailey

If you want to look at strength and speed, it is hard to ignore David Bailey. He is so good at pushing the offensive tackle and going around him. The speed aspect of him is as good as anyone in the draft, as he has a good jump that excels at getting around slower lineman. He is also a big and long dude, which is quite the contrast from the smaller Rueben Bain.

Bailey's weakness generally revolves around his skill moves to get past lineman. He is less clean with moves such as hand swipes and often misses them.

Overall, both prospects have the ability to be great edge rushers in the NFL. David Bailey has the makings to be great and likely has a higher floor with his size, strength, and speed. Rueben Bain can change the argument about short-arm edge rushers and be one of the best in the league, with an incredibly high ceiling.

The choice is for the Titans front office and they very well may end up not taking an edge rusher in the first round, but if they do it will likely be one of these two young stars.

So who is better? I like the ceiling of Bain. and the metrics of Bailey. There is no right answer right now, but there is a lot to like about both of these prospects.