When football fans imagine an NFL defensive lineman, he is a massive, imposing player who somehow resembles a Greek god and moves faster than 95 percent of human beings with their combination of height and weight.
Offensive linemen are rare athletes in their own right, but there is another level of special and overall athleticism required to be a top defensive lineman. Fast-twitch muscles are needed to pull the ball, upper body and core strength help get off blocks, lower body power is needed to maintain positioning at the line of scrimmage, and flexibility is almost a prerequisite for all passers.
Again, all of this is packed into a player big enough to collide with 320-pound blockers on every snap. It feels like the NFL, and the Kansas City Chiefswill prioritize long-limbed defensive linemen when constructing trenches. The longer and more athletic a defensive lineman is – regardless of on-field production – the more likely an NFL team is to invest significant capital.
That’s what makes the 2026 NFL Draft defensive line class so interesting.
On Thursday, defensive linemen participating in the NFL Scouting Combine were measured to piece together a physical profile. Two forward-thinking prospects – both ranked among the 21 best players in the Athletics large consensus table – made headlines with historic results. Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. and Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell each recorded an arm length under 31 inches.
Each would be the shortest armed defensive lineman chosen on Opening Day since 1999, a testament to the lack of precedent. In the Mockdraftable database, there are only three edge rushers who had arms shorter than the 31-inch benchmark:
- Nate Williams, Ohio State, Class of 2013
- Sutton Smith, Northern Illinois, Class of 2019
- Tyree Johnson, Texas A&M, class of 2022
There are no career sacks in the NFL between these three players. Smith, a sixth-round pick, was the only one to participate in the regular season – and recorded just one tackle in eight games.
Among edge defenders with arms up to 31-1/2 inches, the success stories go back a long way Cincinnati Bengals Edge rusher Carl Lawson (32 career sacks) and Missouri alumnus, former Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Markus Golden (51 career sacks). Current Pittsburgh Steelers Defensive lineman Dean Lowry (16.5 sacks) played a role in the NFL for nine seasons after recording 31-inch arms at the 2016 Combine.
The list goes up to 32 inches, and the list remains thin on standout names — although Chiefs defensive end Ashton Gillotte recorded 31 7/8 inches of arm last year — but impact players start to emerge after that. Trey Hendrickson, Bengals rusher, Denver Broncos outside linebacker Jonathan Cooper and Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson all introduced himself before looking past 32 1/8 inches.
That’s exactly why the relationship between Bain and Howell — graduates of Kansas City’s Rockhurst High School — has become a hot topic. With so many years of data to understand what to look for in potential projects, outliers tend to look like riskier choices, regardless of academic output.
After 7.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss as a true freshman at Miami, Bain’s career stats over three seasons totaled 20.5 sacks and 33.5 tackles for loss. He stood out during the College Football Playoff as one of the hardest-hitting and most disruptive defenders on the field in any game.
In 2025, Howell earned All-American honors and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award by earning 11.5 sacks and 14 tackles for lossas well as six passes defended. Over his final three collegiate seasons – including one at Bowling Green – Howell accumulated 24 sacks and 33 tackles for loss with 14 passes defensed.
Production is a critical factor in a successful transition from the college pass rush to the NFL. Recent exceptions have been Los Angeles Chargersoutside linebacker Odafe Oweh – who infamously recorded zero sacks in his final season at Penn State – and Danielle Hunter, an All-Pro edge rusher for the Houston Texans who had just 4.5 career sacks at LSU.
Bain and Howell will therefore be fascinating data points in the history of the drafting process. Each has the production profile to support day one hype, but addiction concerns could be strong enough to relatively hurt both players’ draft stock.
In Bain’s case, that might diminish the feeling that he’s a lock for the top 10 — but Bain’s level of dominance over opposing offensive linemen is hard to ignore. He has incredibly powerful hands that overwhelm blockers, regardless of who engages first. At 6-foot-2 and 263 pounds, he has a unique stature that naturally gives him advantageous pad level and leverage against the typical offensive tackle.
Bain’s powerful profile may allow him to make up for the lack of length, but Howell has been more successful with speed than power. At the Combine, he stood 6 feet 2.5 inches tall and weighed 253 pounds. Howell will need to show up in athletic testing to maintain the high-level status he had at the start of the week.
