- Not a good track record: When you dip below 31 inches, things start to look much more bleak. Kyle Van Noy is the only proven success story among this group. Of the 64 sacks these short-armed edge defenders have recorded in the PFF era, Van Noy accounts for over half of them.
- Could Rueben Bain Jr. be the exception to the short-armed pass-rusher rule?: Bain has already defied conventional expectations throughout his career. If he continues to win with elite burst, leverage and technical refinement, he may prove to be the rare outlier capable of overcoming this limitation that has historically capped the ceilings of similar prospects.
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Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
Rueben Bain Jr. projects as a first-round lock, and even a slide outside the top 10 would be viewed as surprising by most. Max Chadwick’s most recent PFF mock draft projected Bain to the Washington Commanders with the seventh overall pick.
It has almost become a cliché to describe edge defenders drafted inside the top 10 as having “all the tools.” Bain does possess a deep and dangerous repertoire of pass-rush moves, but he objectively lacks one of the fundamental traits that the NFL values most in pass-rushers: long arms.
We knew while watching throughout Bain’s blistering 2025 college football campaign that this otherwise incredibly complete prospect would have to address his biggest concern on combine measurement day. Bain’s official arm length was measured at 30 7/8 inches — the third shortest measurement for an edge rusher at the combine over the last quarter-century.
Despite Bain’s remarkable success as an edge defender for the Miami Hurricanes this past season, his arm measurement has led some NFL teams to project Bain as more of an undersized power-based defensive tackle — a role that’s often limited to passing downs only. That’s quite a polarizing stance to take on an otherwise potential top-five draft pick.
Bain has a sample size of snaps on the edge rivals almost any pass-rushing prospect we’ve seen. Thanks to Miami’s deep playoff run, Bain’s 897 total snaps last season were the most of any defensive lineman in college football.
Given his large snap count, it’s no surprise Bain led all of college football in pressures, but he wasn’t just producing thanks to volume. Bain’s 92.8 overall PFF grade was the third highest of any defensive lineman in the FBS.
It’s difficult to imagine this kind of proven production at the highest level of college football not translating over to the professional ranks, but there is very little precedent for players succeeding with arms shorter than 31 inches.
Arm length directly affects an edge defender’s ability to control offensive tackles at the point of contact. Longer arms allow pass rushers to land the initial strike and maintain separation while working through rush moves. The extra reach also helps convert speed to power and finish plays when quarterbacks attempt to step up in the pocket.
Myles Garrett’s 35 ¼-inch arms are among the upper echelon of NFL pass-rushers. He was just about as perfect as a draft prospect can get, and his wingspan is one of the many reasons he produces at a Hall-of-Fame level.
When it comes to arm length, 99% of NFL edge defenders fall somewhere between Bain and Garrett, but the data shows fairly evenly dispersed results across a variety of measurements.
Pass rush success over last three NFL Seasons by edge defender arm length
| Arm Length | Pressure Rate | PFF Pash-Rush Grade |
| < 31 inches | 11.7% | 69.8 |
| 31-32 inches | 14.9% | 92.5 |
| 32-33 inches | 14.1% | 90.2 |
| 33-34 inches | 14.5% | 90.5 |
| 34-35 inches | 13.8% | 85.7 |
| 35+ inches | 12.2% | 85.0 |
If anything, those in the 31-32 inch category fared best. This group is highlighted by Trey Hendrickson and Micah Parsons — the former was a relatively overlooked 103rd overall draft pick, and the latter was an athletic freak initially pegged to play off-ball linebacker.
However, when you dip below 31 inches, things start to look much more bleak. Kyle Van Noy is the only proven success story among this group. Of the 64 sacks these short-armed edge defenders have recorded in the PFF era, Van Noy accounts for over half of them. It’s worth noting that Van Noy’s arms measured almost a full inch longer than Rueben Bain’s.
The remainder of this group hardly inspires confidence. The only other sub-31-inch edge defenders to even see 500 career pass-rush snaps in the PFF era are Genard Avery and Matt Longacre. If Bain were to move inside, he’d be compared to a similarly unremarkable group headlined by players like Dean Lowry and Calijah Kancey.
This is truly uncharted territory for a potential top-10 draft pick. It’s a testament to Bain’s skill set that he has been so productive despite this limitation. Bain possesses freakish explosiveness off the snap, knows exactly how to take advantage of leverage and can bend around the outside with the best of them. Bain’s effort and motor are also unquestionable.
His dominant wins around the outside often cause offensive tackles to overset, freeing up pass-rush lanes on the inside shoulder, eerily similar to Micah Parsons’ success over the last few seasons.
While Bain has drawn comparisons to Parsons, Brandon Graham and even Aaron Donald due to his compact, powerful frame, there is simply no parallel for this prospect. He is one of the most unique evaluations we have seen for a pass rusher.
If Bain’s NFL career turns out to be a success, he quickly defines a new standard for the measurements required to succeed on the edge. Many blossoming pass-rushers are overlooked as early as the high school level due to their lack of the traits we’ve come to accept as the non-negotiables along the defensive line.
For teams evaluating Bain, the decision comes down to how much weight they place on historical precedent versus individual talent. The data suggests that short-armed edge defenders rarely sustain high-level production in the NFL, but Bain has already defied conventional expectations throughout his career.
If he continues to win with elite burst, leverage and technical refinement, he may prove to be the rare outlier capable of overcoming this limitation that has historically capped the ceilings of similar prospects.
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