Miami's Rueben Bain Jr. Might Be the Best Player in College Football Right Now

Story by

Luke Easterling

Sun, Sep 21, 2025 ·

3 min read

Heading into the 2025 college football season, Miami edge defender Rueben Bain Jr. was one of many promising pass rushers hoping to improve his NFL Draft stock with a stellar campaign.

Through the first four weeks of the college football season, he looks like the most dominant player in the entire country.

Bain has been the sparkplug for a Hurricanes team that is off to a 4-0 start, delivering another impressive performance in Saturday night's 26-7 win over Florida at Hard Rock Stadium .

A quick look at the box score might lead to wonder how a player with only a couple of sacks could be the most valuable player in the game right now, but as is usually the case, a pass rusher's impact goes far beyond pure sack numbers. Bain continues to generate pressure on a regular basis, and has a knack for doing so in critical moments when his team needs a big play the most.

Bain has clearly separated himself from the rest of the top edge rushers in the 2026 NFL Draft class, and continues to look like a potential top-five pick who could end up being the first defensive player off the board.

Listed at 6-3, 275 pounds, Bain has an NFL-ready frame and a complete skill set that allows him to win with both speed and power as a pass rusher, and he's got the strength and technical prowess to set a strong edge as a run defender. His polished technique, hand usage, and vast array of effective pass-rushing moves make Bain look like the kind of prospect who would be able to make an immediate impact at the next level, rather than simply a raw talent with high upside due to purely physical traits that would need a ton of development.

The title of "best player in college football" usually goes to a quarterback, or in a handful of rare cases, some other offensive playmaker at running back or wide receiver. This bias is reflected every year in the Heisman Trophy voting, it's ridiculous that the only defensive players to ever win the sport's most prestigious individual honor only did so because they also made plays on offense and/or special teams ( Ndamukong Suh would like a word).

But if you watch the tape we've seen so far this season, you can make a strong case that no player in the game right now is having a bigger impact on his team than Bain, and he's a massive reason why they're a top-five team that keeps rolling through every opponent on their schedule.

Who knows how exactly his impact will be rewarded at the end of the season, but as long as the Canes are in the national title hunt for as long as possible, I doubt he'll care as much about his own personal recognition. In the meantime, it's safe to say he'll get plenty of recognition when he walks across the stage in Pittsburgh next April as one of the first players selected in the draft.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Sep 21, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.