Rueben Bain Jr., David Bailey pleased with Cardinals meetings at NFL Draft Combine

The Arizona Cardinals met with two of the top pass-rushing prospects, Rueben Bain Jr. and David Bailey, at the NFL Draft Combine this week.

Bain was especially pleased with how his formal interview went with Arizona.

“Great interview. … I overprepared so I was ready for everything,” Bain told reporters on Wednesday. “The Cardinals were my fourth meeting and … I had the mindset to go in and kill everything and have the best interview possible.

“I wanted to leave that interview knowing I was the best interview they had this whole week. I think that was the impression I left, because I felt like they were cheesing ear to ear every time I said something, so had to be doing something right.”

The New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans are among the other NFL teams Bain has sat down with at the combine.

Bain is coming off a run to the national championship game where he registered 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss in 16 games played.

The biggest outside knock for Bain has to do with his arm length, though teams haven’t been “too concerned with it,” the pass rusher said.

There’s no doubting his commitment to the game, either.

“I eat, sleep and breathe football. I have no other hobbies, no other real interests outside of football,” Bain said. “That’s all I care for, that’s all I want to do.”

Much like Bain, Bailey said he had a “really great meeting” with the Cardinals.

He’s also met formally with the Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Titans.

“Just to go top 2, top 3, top 10, first two rounds, it really doesn’t matter,” Bailey said. “This is just a super cool opportunity. Looking back, I don’t know if I ever thought I was going to be here. Just super blessed and grateful to be here.”

Bailey is expected to participate in most combine testing but will skip the short shuttle drill, he said.

His tape from last year says everything you need to know about the pass rusher, though.

On top of pacing all FBS in sacks with 14.5, Bailey led the Big 12 in tackles for loss with 19.5.

He was also linked to the Cardinals’ No. 3 overall pick in ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s mock draft published Monday.

Bain and Bailey make up two of the latest top-rated prospects defensively to meet with the Cardinals. Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese also met with the team earlier in the week.

Related

Arvell Reese met with Cardinals during NFL Draft CombineDo the pros outweigh the cons in potential Cardinals-Malik Willis pairing?Cardinals GM at NFL Draft Combine: All quarterback options are on the tableNFL mock draft tracker: What will Cardinals do with No. 3 pick?Cardinals beef up pass rush in 1st round of Mel Kiper Jr. mock draftCardinals place P.J. Mustipher on IR, sign Brodric Martin