Blitzing “Big Part” Of Josiah Trotter’s Game
April 29th, 2026
It seems — and Joe doesn’t fully know why — that the big knock on Bucs’ second-round pick Josiah Trotter is that he allegedly cannot defend the pass.
Joe honestly cannot remember the last time he watched a Missouri game. Why would anyone willingly watch a Missouri game unless that happened to be the only game on TV? Even then, one can find something better to do like clean the bathroom.
So Joe cannot say either way if Trotter can or cannot defend the run.
But on Friday night when the Bucs had vice president of player personnel Mike Biehl represented the organization, he seemed to slightly bristle with the notion that Trotter cannot defend the pass.
He referred to that idea as a “misnomer.” What Biehl did say was that Trotter excelled at was blitzing.
“That’s a big part of his game, too,” Biehl said of Trotter. “He understands how to rush the passer and he can go through running backs’ faces if he chooses to or he can make them miss.
“That’s going to be a plus for Todd [Bowles] on third downs. You guys have seen the way that he uses our inside linebackers when Devin [White] was here and I would anticipate Josiah having a lot of production in that phase.”
Well, if Trotter is like Devin White, let’s hope Trotter is the pre-head case White.
Joe guesses, technically, White was a bust for the Bucs. White was drafted No. 5 overall and he didn’t earn a second contract. What happened to White is still a mystery. At one time, he may have been a top-two inside linebacker in the league.
That’s right. Joe doesn’t believe the Bucs win the Super Bowl for the 2020 season without White. He was Derrick Brooks and Ray Lewis rolled into one in the playoffs that year. A total force.
Sadly, he never reached that peak again.
So if the Bucs are getting the 2019-2021 version of White, Trotter will be a godsend.
April 29th, 2026 at 12:15 am
I wanted this kid before the draft. He’s young, he’s going to improve and grow over these next few years. Can’t teach attitude.
April 29th, 2026 at 12:21 am
Trotter is going to blitz on every down when Bowles runs his famous Charmin coverage.
April 29th, 2026 at 12:29 am
White was enrolled in the coveted Bowles Regression Program. Like all defensive draft picks, they play their best ball their first two seasons and then fade into milk toast.
April 29th, 2026 at 12:37 am
Josiah Trotter wasn’t that bad in coverage, from what I seen
Missouri had a very tough schedule last year
But they still finish 8th in the nation in total defense
And I’m sure Jason Licht and Todd Bowles watched every game he played last season
I’m not concerned about his coverage skills
And I’m sure they’re not concerned either
But he will improve his overall game, I’m sure of this
He’s a student of the game, he breathe football
April 29th, 2026 at 12:40 am
He’s a Trotter, they love to hit folks
They play the game the right way, violent and physical
April 29th, 2026 at 1:04 am
Missouri defense was ranked 8th in the nation in total yards
They gave up only 277.3 yards per game
173.5 passing a game — 103.8 rushing yards a game
They gave up a completion rate of 56.7
And they gave up 18.9 points per game
When they played Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt TE had 1 reception for 4 yards
I didn’t see any poor coverage from any of Missouri defenders
Teams wasn’t going up and down the field on them
And they played some tough teams last season
South Carolina
Alabama
Vanderbilt
Texas A&M
Oklahoma
Virginia
These are the ranked teams they played
April 29th, 2026 at 1:05 am
“””Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers had 1 reception for 4 yards against Missouri
April 29th, 2026 at 1:09 am
Sorry
Eli Stowers had 4 catches, 46 yards against Missouri
April 29th, 2026 at 1:32 am
Watched some Missouri games because they’re in the SEC and I watched a lot of SEC games.
This kid is great against the run… I don’t know where the notion comes from that he is slow. He goes sideline to sideline, explodes towards line a scrimmage, stopping running backs in their tracks. Sure tackler, hits hard.
I don’t remember seeing him blitz although I may have. I have seen him just explode with a burst to close in on running backs so I would imagine that comes in handy blitzing.
Could not tell you if he’s detrimental in pass coverage.
I wanted them to pick CJ Allen, but I’m more familiar with Georgia, so biased.
Hopefully, I’m wrong with that
April 29th, 2026 at 1:33 am
What I do know is the Buccaneers got an Edge, ILB, & CB that all close down in a hurry, hit hard, and are sure tackles
April 29th, 2026 at 1:41 am
Originally, this Trotter pick made say “WTF???!?”
BUT, this pick is growing on me bigtime. It started after watching Baldinger’s breakdown of him and then I realized that he’s not slow like people were saying (he runs a 4.49 40) and I really don’t think he’s gonna be KJ Britt 2.0 in pass coverage.
I love his aggressiveness, athleticism, and demeanor. And his pedigree.
I wanted CJ Allen at this spot, but now I’m glad we got Trotter instead.
April 29th, 2026 at 4:22 am
I just watched the Missouri Oklahoma game. Mostly Trotter was not in coverage. When the play was in front of him in zone, he was fine.
On one play, Oklahoma had three receivers bunched to he right. Two DBs came down to the bunch and Trotter went over to the inside receiver. At the snap, for some reason, Trotter and the outside DB both followed a receiver outside to the sideline, the other DB followed a receiver going downfield, and the third receiver was left to run free across the middle where Trotter came from when he moved over to the receiver bunch. It was an SVD moment. I watched the play several times thinking maybe they were playing a came where Trotter was supposed to take the flat and the cornerback was supposed to run with the guy crossing the middle, but it never looked that way to me as I rewatched it.
On another play, Trotter was in zone maybe 7 or 10 yards deep. A receiver ran straight through Trotters zone. Trotter moved towards the receiver until the receiver ran past Trotter’s spot. At that point, Trotter just turned back to watch the backfield while the receiver settled into a hole in the zone just a few yards behind and to one side of Trotter and caught an easy pass. Trotter May have been responsible for spying the QB or on alert for something from a running back or a tight end. But, he should have been able to close up the hole the receiver was sitting in while watching and waiting for other work.
Trotter is young. And, if his knees hold up, he should improve some. Meanwhile, if Trotter’s continues to demonstrates a lack of awareness in zone when receivers are lurking behind him, maybe the Bucs can use Trotter’s flaw as bait and scheme some opportunities for Scott to be close enough to pass off another receiver and jump passes to the receiver lurking behind Trotter.
A different concern that I have is that Trotter was evaluated as “elite” last season in generating pressures when blitzing the QB, but he only had two sacks last season. How many times have Bucs fans complained about the Bucs failing to get sacks just to be told what a great job they are doing pressuring the QB?
Here we go again!
April 29th, 2026 at 4:37 am
So 2 plays on tape you didn’t like and he is a bust?
Here we go again?
The dude is 21 lets watch him play.
Luke Kuechly ran a 4.58.
April 29th, 2026 at 5:00 am
Am I wrong or did he miss the Tiger’s Bowl game? With his 3rd knee surgery? So the AP voted him 2nd team All SEC? After missing his freshman season at West Virginia in its entirety with knee surgery? Besides not being ready for practice this year because he’s not healed up yet. At least he shows discipline in only being kicked out of 10% of last year’s play because of targeting. Can’t knock any kind of turnovers loose, and I mean any. But hey. He can play the run and knock your a$$ off. Perfect Round 2 choice at a critical position. Only an idiot would think otherwise. Linebackers don’t need coverage skills when they’re skilled at targeting. Plus, he might hurt someone. The problem is that he’s usually only hurting himself. I’m gonna be pleasantly surprised if he ever sees the field.
April 29th, 2026 at 5:21 am
He was the Big 12 defensive player in 2024 at WV after missing his entire true freshman year in2023. So after sitting out his senior year in high school in 2022 with knee surgery, he sits the next year, has one good year and says No to the Bowl game because he’s transferring to the SEC. And sits his final Bowl game 5 months ago so he can have another knee surgery 5 months ago. At least he wasn’t able to run at the combine. He might have hurt himself. Lavonte David was one of the best turnover machines in the NFL. Durable. This guy is just the opposite. But man can his whole family play football. And when he’s off the crutches he will fill the hole and hit you shockingly hard. I’m sold. NOT!
April 29th, 2026 at 8:03 am
Fantastic he can run into a pile in the middle as Bain drops into the flat. Bowls playing chess
April 29th, 2026 at 8:04 am
1st Team SEC last year. Very good at shedding blockers, and handles RB one on one just fine.
Watch the tape and you will see a far better backer than Britt or SVD.
The knee surgerys were scopes, not ligament tears. Big difference.
April 29th, 2026 at 8:15 am
i see some Kendell Beckwith to his game!!!
Trotter will be fine…imo, Dennis played a lot better in the month of Dec…SVD can definitely blitz the QB…Trotter is way more physical
GO BUCS!!!!
April 29th, 2026 at 8:34 am
How often do BOTH ILB’s need to be in coverage anyway?
April 29th, 2026 at 9:10 am
No one knows his 40 time, that 4.49 was fake news, he didn’t run a 40 at the combine or pro day, he only benched, no jumps no workouts, only by comparison his older brother ran 4.81, not saying Josiah is faster or slower just saying he was probably told not to workout, if he ran a 4.75ish 40 he wouldn’t be a 2nd rounder, CJ Allen ran 4.47 at 6’1 230 Anthony Hill ran 4.51 at 6’2 238 at the combine those guys weren’t scared to test, doesn’t matter now and hopefully Trotter is a better player
April 29th, 2026 at 9:18 am
Josiah Trotter had 13 TFL, 14 QB pressures
He plays fast, he attacks the ball
His 40 time is not as important as his play
He had a 25% pressure rate
April 29th, 2026 at 9:26 am
We made the pick, and it’s an excellent pick
I would made the exact same pick
He’s physical, he plays violently, he’s relentless
He plays with a high motor, he has a very high football IQ
And he runs a 4.61 forty, not that it matters
Football speed is different from track speed
How fast you are with the pads on is what important
April 29th, 2026 at 10:57 am
He reached that peak and fell off. The only way you sustain that kind of success is having a deep love for the game which diva white did NOT. He was perfect for the Bowles system and Bowles used him perfect. Those blitz white got home on were some of the best. Whites head and heart got in the way. JOE we deff don’t win that SB without white. He really was a force. I think that was the season he had 9 sacks.
April 29th, 2026 at 12:29 pm
4.61 is plenty fast for a guess
April 29th, 2026 at 5:01 pm
jcscycles. Hard for the reader to get accurate news when your news is not accurate. He’s torn his ACL, MCL, and he tore his meniscus, which isn’t as serious as the ACL or MCL. But there is surely a reason for concern.
April 29th, 2026 at 8:49 pm
I’m not sold on him, however, I did like the rest of our draft. We will see how he plays in the next couple of years. IMO he’s in the same line as KJ, Britt and SVD
April 30th, 2026 at 12:08 pm
Trotter vs CJ Allen, Bowles watched a ton of UGA football via watching his son and would fall in love with Tykee Smith. There must have been enough knowledge and familiarity there to pick Trotter over.
April 30th, 2026 at 5:56 pm
Had we not signed Angelone, the pick may have been different. Allen’s skills are closer to what we get with Angelone. Trotter provides the physicality and blitzing upside that Anzalone and Allen lacks. Trotter may be a little slower than Allen, but he’s bigger and more physical.