Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic addressed one of the Washington Commanders' most obvious needs in a recent beat writer mock draft. Adam Peters has the No. 7 pick, and the respected insider knows what the general manager needs right now.
“The Commanders need to rebuild the defense to give Jayden Daniels some support, and it starts up front, where they’ve lacked an elite pass rusher the last two seasons,” Jhabvala wrote.
She gave Dan Quinn that elite pass rusher by choosing Miami defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. After referencing his FBS-leading 83 pressures in 2025, she concludes the prospect is “the game-wrecker Washington sorely needs.”
If you have been following the mocks that have been spreading like wildfire since the end of the college football season, Bain will not be a new name to you. Along with fellow edge rusher David Bailey and safety Caleb Downs, he has been the player most often associated with the Commanders' pick.
Commanders need a game-wrecker, and Rueben Bain Jr. may be the guy
In this particular beat writer draft, both Bailey and Downs were off the board by the time the Commanders’ pick came up. That may have made the decision seem easy.
However, many talented players were still available. Jeremiyah Love and Carnell Tate on offense. Sonny Styles and Mansoor Delane on defense. Each would help fill a hole on the Commanders’ roster.
Bain was the pick not simply because he fills an important need. General managers selecting high in the first round generally recognize that they don’t simply need a solid talent at a weak position. They are not merely patching a hole with a top-10 pick.
They need a game-wrecker.
Bain can be that player for Washington. Of the prospects likely to be on the board when Peters chooses, the edge defender and Love are the two who have the greatest potential to be transformative.
The very thing that might cause Bain to drop to Washington at No. 7 is what makes him different. He lacks the length that teams covet in an edge rusher. He was unstoppable in college, but some scouts worry that he is an edge defender in the body of an undersized interior lineman.
He is 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds with very short arms for an edge. That could make him a difficult fit. But it also makes Bain a unique player.
His lack of length, when combined with an otherworldly ability to bend the corner without losing a step, makes Bain almost impossible for hulking offensive tackles to block. He gets so low to the ground that he looks like a motorcycle racer making a turn. He will give slower NFL tackles fits.
It is ludicrous to compare him at this point in his journey to all-time great Aaron Donald. But there is something similar in their profiles.
Everyone recognized that Donald was an elite athlete. But he was 6-foot-1, which is why he fell to the Los Angeles Rams with the No. 13 pick in 2014.
Jadeveon Clowney looked the part of a defensive lineman and went No. 1 that year. He has had a nice career. Donald is a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Does Bain have that high a ceiling? Yes. There’s no guarantee. It just acknowledges that, as much as anyone in this draft, he has the potential to be a true game-wrecker.
If the Commanders do end up acquiring Bain, practice battles between the rookie and left tackle Laremy Tunsil will turn into must-see TV.