Bucs first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. has a legitimate opportunity this season to accomplish something that has never been done before in team history. Despite a franchise that has been built on great defensive players, the Buccaneers have never had a player that has won NFL Defensive Rookie Of The Year.

Not Lee Roy Selmon. Not Warren Sapp. Not Derrick Brooks.

Not Rondé Barber. Not John Lynch. Not Lavonte David. And not Antoine Winfield Jr., either.

It almost feels shocking given the caliber of talent that Tampa Bay has had over the years on the defensive side of the ball. Yes, the franchise has had three NFL Defensive Player Of The Year award winners with Selmon, Brooks and Sapp, but Tampa Bay has yet to have someone come firing out of the gates with enough stellar play and production to win the league’s top defensive rookie award.

But with a top 10 talent like Bain sliding all the way down to the Bucs at No. 15, it’s given Tampa Bay its best chance to win this honor in a while. We’ll see how it plays out, but it’s likely that Bain will be starting from day one at outside linebacker opposite Yaya Diaby. With Bain’s violent playing style, powerful pass rush and overall skillset to play the run and pass, he will be getting plenty of snaps in Todd Bowles defense during his rookie year.

Bucs OLB Rueben Bain Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bain was the main focus of opposing offenses when he was playing at Miami. But at the NFL level, team’s won’t make him the focal point just yet with an unproven rookie. There will be a lot of expectations for Bain, and that’s why he is near the top of the list to win the coveted defensive award this season.

According to Bet MGM, Bain has the second-best odds amongst defensive players to win NFL Defensive Rookie Of The Year at +550.  The only player just slightly ahead of him is Jets edge rusher David Bailey at +500. Rounding out the next best odds is the Giants’ Arvell Reese (+750) followed by Chiefs cornerback Mansoor Delane, Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles and Cowboys’ safety Caleb Downs – all at +850.

Looking at PrizePicks, who is the official sponsor of the Pewter Report Podcast, they have Bain with the best odds to win it with a payout of 4.76 times your entry payment if one were to pick yes on him to win it. That means if a $20 entry fee pick was made on Bain and he won the award, the payout would be $95.

Bucs OLB Rueben Bain Jr. Has Great Chance To Win NFL DROY

Why is Rueben Bain Jr. a great betting value? Because history says that edge rushers typically win this award. Over the last 10 seasons, six edge rushers have won NFL Defensive Rookie Of The Year, including three in the last five years. With many awards in the NFL typically being statistics-driven, people fall in love with sack numbers.

If it does work that way, this leaves Bain going against David Bailey and Arvell Reese. When it comes to Bailey, he will definitely be starting right away especially after the Jets traded Jermaine Johnson to the Titans. There’s no doubting his pass rushing skillset, which is why he was taken second overall.

Bucs OLB Rueben Bain Jr. – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Sam Navarro

But the Jets are the Jets. They will likely be losing several games this upcoming season. That means they will be trailing often and teams won’t be throwing as much later in games because of it. This might give Bailey less opportunities to rush the passer and thus not having as significant of numbers.

With Reese, it’ll be interesting to see how he is used on the Giants defense. Will he be a straight up edge rusher? Will they put him at linebacker? The position flexibility is great for the Giants, but his sack numbers may vary because of it.

Each of these players do have the benefit of playing in New York with a big market hype machine working for them. If there’s any chance of tie between them and another player out of market, the chances are it goes to the New York player.

Of course there’s also a possibility that several other players in the draft class surprise and get in the running as well. With that said, Bucs outside linebacker Rueben Bain Jr. is in a great spot to make history for Tampa Bay and should be an impact player in his first season.