Sunday is the first real chance for Rueben Bain Jr. to start building something no Buccaneers rookie has ever delivered: a Defensive Rookie of the Year season.
Tampa Bay has never had a player win that award, and Bain is already being talked about like the guy who could change that. The Athletic’s preseason predictions for the 2026 season didn’t include the Buccaneers in any of the headline spots, but Bain was the clear favorite in the DROTY conversation.
The only problem? He won’t have the lane to himself.
The voters gave Bain 13 first-place votes, and New York Jets rookie David Bailey got the same total.
Still, there’s a path here for Bain, and it starts with Tampa Bay being the better team. If the Buccaneers are in the playoff race, or even in the playoffs, Bain could be a major reason why.
That’s what makes this opener so interesting. Bain has been electric all camp, and the preseason barely slowed him down.
The Buccaneers had a hard time getting him off the field, and now the rookie gets his first regular-season shot to bring that same energy against Cincinnati. The assignment is straightforward: take as many snaps as they’ll give him and make Joe Burrow uncomfortable.
There’s no shortage of eyes on Tampa Bay’s rookie, even if Alex Anzalone is the name that jumps out on the roster. For Buccaneers fans, Bain is the player to watch. His first game is less about proving he belongs and more about showing how much damage he can do when the rush plan lets him loose.
The challenge is keeping that motor from running too hot. Bain’s all-out style is part of what makes him so dangerous, but Sunday will demand a little discipline too. He’ll need to work within the defensive scheme, take what the Bengals offer, and then strike when the chance opens up.
That’s the tightrope for a player like this. Bain entered the league as a first-round pick, slid to 15 because his arm length didn’t meet the national standard, and now he gets his first swing at making the doubters look foolish.
Tampa Bay has never had a rookie like him. On Sunday, he starts trying to change that.
In Other News...
Joe Burrow Incident Keeps Bengals Opener Under The NFL Spotlight
Joe Burrow and the Bengals opened their 2026 season at home against the Buccaneers with the kind of spotlight that comes with a high-profile quarterback on a prime stage. Burrow played well in the opener, but the game also featured a moment that drew extra attention from the league office when Tampa Bay safety Tykee Smith was flagged for a late hit on him.
The Bengals came away with the win, but the postgame focus has shifted to what the NFL decides next for Smith. Any possible fine or further discipline will come after the league reviews the play, keeping a season opener that already had plenty of intrigue in view a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Opener Raised One Ugly Question Fans Cant Ignore
The Buccaneers left Cincinnati with plenty to sort through after a 33-27 season-opening loss at Paycor Stadium, and the biggest concern had little to do with the final score itself. Tampa Bay spent much of the afternoon fighting uphill after three first-half takeaways put the Bengals in control, including a defensive touchdown by linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., while a revamped Cincinnati defense kept pressing and never let Baker Mayfield settle in.
For Tampa Bay, the troubling part was the turnover count and how it unfolded. The Bucs lost four fumbles, three of them by Mayfield, a rough start for an offense that expected to look cleaner right out of the gate. With the Bengals new-look defense bringing steady pressure throughout the game, the opener raised an uncomfortable question for the Bucs about whether this was just a bad September afternoon or a sign of something more structural. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Opener Exposed A Turnover Problem Tampa Bay Still Has
Tampa Bays 2026 opener offered a little of everything the Buccaneers wanted to build on and plenty they did not. The Bucs jumped out early, got a touchdown from Bucky Irving and even picked up a defensive score from Josiah Trotter, but the game kept tilting back toward Cincinnati as turnovers kept putting Tampa Bay in difficult spots and disrupting any chance to settle in.
Baker Mayfields mistakes were the biggest reason the early lead never felt safe, and the Bengals made the most of the extra chances. Cincinnati also leaned on Evan McPhersons leg to keep the pressure on, drilling long field goals that helped the Bengals control the game for most of the afternoon and leave Tampa Bay with an early reminder that clean football is still a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]