Landing One of These Premier Pass Rushers Could Lead to a Super Bowl Win

INDIANAPOLIS — The 2026 NFL Draft is two months away, and the path to the Lombardi Trophy may run through the edge of the offensive line. With no consensus franchise quarterback available after California’s Fernando Mendoza, the surest bet for a title-starved franchise could be selecting one of the draft’s elite pass rushers.

Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. and Texas Tech’s David Bailey have separated themselves as the class’s premier edge defenders, and history says the team that lands either may have just secured the missing piece to a championship puzzle.

Bain, 21, arrived at the NFL Scouting Combine carrying the same “kill-all mentality” that produced 20.5 sacks and 33.5 tackles for loss in three Hurricanes seasons. In four 2025 College Football Playoff games alone, he logged five sacks and eight tackles for loss, earning ACC Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous All-American honors. Weighing in at 270 pounds, Bain projects as a top-ten selection and, by his own admission, lives for nothing but football.

“I eat, sleep and breathe football,” Bain said. “That’s all I do.”

Across the interview room, Bailey offered a quieter but equally menacing approach. The 6-4, 250-pound Stanford graduate transferred to Texas Tech for his final season and led the Big 12 with 19.5 tackles for loss and a national-best 14.5 sacks. Bailey’s 29 career sacks and 10 forced fumbles have him in play as high as No. 2 to the Jets or No. 4 to the Titans, and he believes understanding an opponent’s mind is as valuable as beating his block.

“If I could do it all over again, I would probably major in psychology or neuroscience,” Bailey said, noting his fascination with human behavior.

Ohio State’s Arvell Reese also draws first-round buzz, though some scouts project him as an off-ball linebacker at the next level.

The statistical precedent is stark. Since sacks became an official statistic in 1982, 28 of 44 Super Bowl winners were piloted by Hall-of-Fame-bound quarterbacks. Of the remaining 16, only five lacked a double-digit sack artist, and each of those five still finished in the league’s top half in total sacks. Put simply, no team has ever won a Super Bowl without an above-average pass rush or an elite quarterback, and only five champions have captured a title without one of those two pillars.

The 2025 Seahawks underscored the formula. Lacking a marquee quarterback, Seattle rode a committee rush led by Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II and Uchenna Nwosu—each finishing with seven sacks—to 47 sacks (ninth) and a 38.9 percent pressure rate (fourth). In Super Bowl LX the group battered Patriots quarterback Drake Maye with six sacks, eight tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hits, holding him to a season-worst -23.5 EPA while pressuring him on more than half his dropbacks.

For clubs picking too late to secure Bain or Bailey, reinforcements remain. Ten edge defenders populate Sports Illustrated’s top-50 prospects, making the position arguably the draft’s deepest.

Only two organizations can trot out Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen on Sundays. For the other 30, the fastest route to a parade may be turning the opposition’s passer into the most uncomfortable man on the field.