Titans get elite edge-rusher for Robert Saleh in latest 2026 mock draft originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Tennessee Titans have a new coaching staff and plenty of roster holes to fill this offseason.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRobert Saleh was brought in to be the head coach, and he's already making his mark on the roster. Last week, the team traded away defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat to the New York Jets, Saleh's former team, for edge-rusher Jermaine Johnson.
The pass rush is a major area of need for the Titans and Johnson had his best season with Saleh as his head coach. However, the Titans need more than one quality pass-rusher, and they could still go defense in the first round of the draft.
Nate Tice and Charles McDonald of Yahoo Sports recently published a new mock that has the Titans drafted Miami edge Rueben Bain Jr. with the No. 4 pick in 2026.
Regarding this pick, the experts offered the following analysis:
Tennessee started rebuilding its defense in Robert Saleh’s image by swapping T’Vondre Sweat for the Jets’ Jermaine Johnson. Now Saleh can continue to build what his best Jets defenses had: premier defensive line depth. Adding Bain, who would be a perfect fit in Saleh’s defense, would give the Titans a heavy-handed player on the edge who has high-end athleticism to negate any arm-length issues his frame should bring up. Jeffery Simmons and Bain would be … a pain.
As Tice and McDonald mentioned, Saleh loves to have depth on the edges. Bain would not only help the depth, but he could end up being a star pass-rusher at the next level.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn 2025 with the Hurricanes, Bain played in 16 games and collected 54 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, and one interception. The star earned First-team All-American honors for his efforts and is considered by many to be the top edge-rusher in the class.
Pro Football Focus gave Bain an elite 92.5 grade for his 2025 season, which ranked 3rd out of 853 qualified edge-rushers.
In Tennessee, Bain would immediately start opposite Johnson. That combination, along with Jeffery Simmons at defensive tackle, would give the team a fearsome defensive front.
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