Just 11 days from away from the potential start of his NFL career, Miami (FL) defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. is facing some controversy that has potential to hurt his draft status. Oliver Connolly of The Read Optional broke the story today that, in 2024, Bain was “cited for careless driving” in an accident that left a young woman in a coma for three months before her eventual passing.
During his sophomore season, Bain reportedly was driving at 4am with four passengers in his car. The victim was a 22-year-old female college student from Georgia visiting Miami over spring break — a statement from the victim’s family in response to Connolly’s request for comment expressed that they “are not seeking public attention” at this time, so the victim will remain unnamed here, though her name is available at the source link.
According to police crash records (via Armando Salguero of OutKick), Bain’s vehicle struck another car before then colliding with the “concrete barriers on both sides of the highway.” The victim “suffered incapacitating injuries and was rushed to the Ryder Trauma Center.” Comatose, she failed to regain consciousness before dying a little under three months later. A second passenger also sustained injuries from the crash and ended up hospitalized. The police report for the crash lists that Bain “operated his vehicle in a careless or negligent manner” but that his condition was “apparently normal.” The report is marked to show that there was no suspected use of drugs or alcohol and that no tests to determine such use were performed at the time.
The victim’s family created a GoFundMe page to help with “the financial strain” put on the victim’s father, who missed a significant amount of time at work to be by his daughter’s side. Per Connolly, “no finding of criminal liability” was made in connection with the crash or the victim’s death, and “the careless driving charge against Bain was dismissed by a court approximately two weeks before” the victim’s passing. According to Trey Wallace, also at OutKick, the charge was dismissed because of a “defective citation” after Bain entered a not guilty plea.
At the time of this writing, Bain is viewed as one of a group of three pass rushers seen as the consensus top prospects at the position, including Ohio State’s Arvell Reese and Texas Tech’s David Bailey. Draft projections have him mostly going in the top 10 picks of the 2026 NFL Draft, and certainly not lasting into the teens if he is still on the board at No. 11 overall.
Connolly’s story presents quotes from multiple team executives and other sources claiming they “feel like (Bain was) not transparent” with them or that they “are concerned about multiple incidents.” Wallace’s report contains more information on a second careless driving citation that occurred in October 2025, though this case was also dismissed because of a defective citation. Connolly even draws parallels to the historic slide of offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, who was projected by some to be the No. 1 pick in 2016 but ended up falling to 13th overall after videos were leaked minutes before the draft showing him smoking from a bong.
Others in the media don’t seem to be reacting with the same level of concern for Bain’s draft stock. In the wake of Connolly breaking the story, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer added that “teams have been aware of this case for a long, long time” and that “a lawsuit associated with the case…was settled in Miami.” The plaintiff of the settled lawsuit was the driver of the car Bain made contact with before crashing. Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS claimed that every team, except one, that he had “spoken with…(had) been satisfied with Bain’s explanation” of events and consider “the matter handled.” In addition to the victim’s family’s request that their privacy be honored, their response to Connolly’s request for comment called her passing “the result of a tragic accident” and “(wished) Mr. Bain the best as he continues his life and career.”
It’s difficult to say at this point whether or not this information, which is seemingly new to the media but known by the teams in range to draft Bain, will affect his draft stock. Breer and Jones’ comments seem to indicate that, if this issue were going to hurt his draft position, it would have done so already. While the loss of life of the victim is tragic, there doesn’t appear to be any lingering ill will following Bain from the family most affected by it. It’s worth keeping an eye out, though, to see if any teams within range of Bain decide to take him off their board.
2024 huh. Has he done anything recently?
Seems like a weird thing to bring up 11 days away from the draft. Something that happened over a year ago and
“the careless driving charge against Bain was dismissed by a court approximately two weeks before” the victim’s passing.”
“ the victim’s family’s request that their privacy be honored, their statement called her passing “the result of a tragic accident” and “(wished) Mr. Bain the best as he continues his life and career.”
Howie, you know what to do.