Miami Hurricanes DL Rueben Bain excited about depth up front, focused on proving preseason hype about him is deserved

Miami sophomore DL  Rueben Bain has never exactly set a low bar for himself or this Hurricanes team. After a freshman All-American season his goals continue to be ratcheted up as high as possible – he’s mentioned winning the Heisman Trophy as one of those along with consensus All-American.

Of course, that’s all within the bigger picture of helping this Cane defense excel and helping the team to a title.

With a lot of preseason honors and expectations, Bain says “it means a lot, something I look forward to, but at the end of the day it means nothing at the same time because it means nothing if I don’t play my best.

“It’s `Thank you for looking out for me, but I have to look at the bigger picture.”

Bain is part of a revamped Miami defensive front that’s added portal pickups like DL Tyler Baron, DT CJ Clark, DT Simeon Barrow and DE Elijah Alston.

Plus Akheem Mesidor, who missed most of last year injured, is back full go (he was the team’s leader in sacks in 2022).

“That was my main guy when I first got here, was always trying to help me,” Bain said of Mesidor. “He always watched film with me, gave me insight and details. Now we have the chance to team up (with him healthy), I’m so excited for that. This season is going to be special.”

The bottom line is that yes, it’s fair to say this defensive line is very deep and talented.

“(The depth) is something I’m very excited for, we get to rotate every game, are loaded,” Bain said. “Every day in practice, we get to compete. I’m really excited to see where it goes. We’re competing every day, making each other better and making the offensive line better.”

Bain points to freshman Cole McConathy (“he plays with his tail on fire all the time”) as a young lineman that’s also standing out.

“Everything comes natural to him,” Bain said.

Bain, of course, burst onto the scene as a true freshman, emerging as a starter in Game 3 and never looking back. He was honored as ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, selected to the All-ACC Third Team and to every Freshman All-America Team. He had 37 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, which ranked tops among all defensive linemen and tied Francisco Mauigoa for most on the team.

Per Pro Football Focus, Bain graded out the highest of any Miami defensive player in 2023 with more than 15 reps at 82.2 percent overall, and he had a stellar 89.3 pass rush grade along with a 70.7 run defense grade and 53.1 tackle grade (noted missing eight tackles).

The expectation is he’ll be even more dangerous this year, and like last year he could play inside as well as his usual end spot (“What coach sees depends on how much I play that,” Bain said of working at tackle).

“I have the mindset of just being where my feet are, focus on what’s happening right now,” Bain said. “To get better I have to be dialed in during practice.”

A final thought from Bain?

He says this week the defense has fared well and that “We have a great offense, a lot of explosive guys on that (side). And I know this defense will (take) anything that comes toward them. … No matter what happens we have that next-man mentality. And that’s all that really matters. That’s what coach (Mario) Cristobal harps on every day. It’s camp, good that we’re all competing.”