Josiah Trotter, Welcome To Tampa Bay
April 24th, 2026
Bucs rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter hopes to make opponents scream for mercy.
The Bucs have their new starting linebacker. And he’s an SEC guy.
The Bucs got Josiah Trotter from Missouri. But this guy is raw. He only played two years of college ball. But, if you can hang in the SEC you ought to be able to play ball.
Veteran NFL scribe Bob McGinn, typing for GoLongTD.com, after talking to several of his scouts sources, has Trotter as his sixth-best linebacker in the draft.
6. JOSIAH TROTTER, Missouri (6-2, 239, no 40, 3): Started 12 games at Missouri last year. Began his collegiate career in 2023 at West Virginia but sat out the entire season because of a lower-leg injury. Started 11 games for the Mountaineers in 2024. “A lot of people like him,” one scout said. “They think he’s better than the brother that came out a few years ago. He’s had a couple injuries that could be a hangup so that’s why I think he’ll be a second-round pick.”
His father, Jeremiah, made four Pro Bowls and 914 tackles as a middle linebacker for the Eagles and two other teams from 1998-’09. In 1998, as a third-round pick from Stephen F. Austin, he was 6-0 ½, 261 and ran 4.67. His Josiah’s brother, Jeremiah (6-0, 226, 4.81), was drafted in the fifth round by the Eagles in 2024 from Clemson. In two seasons he has started two of 34 games and made 57 tackles. Josiah, his father and his brother all entered the draft after three years of college. “He’s not as good as his brother, and his brother doesn’t even (start),” said a second scout. “He’s very, very similar to his brother. He’s a tough guy and he’s physical.
Just gets beat up at the point of attack because he’s a smaller guy. Not much range or change of direction or athletic ability. His coverage isn’t good at all. Fifth round.” Three-star recruit from Philadelphia. Arms were 32 ¼, hands (10 ¼) were the largest of the top 10 at the position. “He’s a strong second-round pick,” a third scout said.
The lack of games played is a bit strange. Maybe the Bucs should have been aggressive and traded up and gotten Jacob Rodriguez? Joe’s not ragging on Trotter, but why not CJ Allen coming from a Kirby Smart defense? That strategy sure has paid off for Howie Roseman.
Joe hopes Trotter shows a skill level that belies his lack of college experience.
Missouri LB Josiah Trotter!!!🚨🚨🚨
All-SEC 1st Team LB
– Elite speed
– Great instincts
– Great tackler in space
– Violent in the box
– Great at shedding blocks
– Very intelligent playerNFL legend Jeremiah Trotter Sr. is his dad and NFL Philadelphia Eagles LB Jeremiah Trotter… pic.twitter.com/fhVTAhPK3L
— Linebackers University™ (@Linebackers_U) December 11, 2025
April 24th, 2026 at 8:07 pm
Hill and Allen were there…smh
April 24th, 2026 at 8:08 pm
KJ Britt limitations
April 24th, 2026 at 8:08 pm
Not sure about this one. CJ Allen and Hill ???
April 24th, 2026 at 8:08 pm
Welcome to tampa! I Love his heart and fight.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:08 pm
Dont love the pick.
Should have traded up for Rodriguez.
This guy is slow and bad in coverage. SVD 2.0
April 24th, 2026 at 8:08 pm
Idiot Licht, thinks he knows more than everyone else. Why get someone not ready to play NFL
April 24th, 2026 at 8:09 pm
Oh. At least we got Bain.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:09 pm
Meh.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:09 pm
Swing and a miss. Better LBs and also better DBs – but at least it wasn’t a TE
April 24th, 2026 at 8:09 pm
Excellent pick
I love this pick, he was my ILB all the time
The Bucs brought him in last week for a visit
And they met with him at the combine
He’s a physical linebacker like his dad.
He fit the mold of player that we’re looking for
April 24th, 2026 at 8:09 pm
Locht always going against the grain or drafting nfl players kids. This one is both.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:09 pm
Todd is probably friends with his dad ( Morrison syndrome). He better bring it .
I noticed there is no mention of his coverage skills…
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Could’ve picked Trotter in the 3rd. Another Jason Lichtn2nd round stinker
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Hill – nope Allen – nope
Like the position picked, but not the player
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
I do not like this pick. Problems in coverage? We all know what that looks like!
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Golday, Allen, Hill…all better IMHO
This guy looks slow on film. Thought he was a 4th rounder.
Hope to be wrong. But dont see him starting. Ugh
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Would have preferred CJ Allen, but ok.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
They overthought the hell out of that pick.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Licht shouldn’t be in the room for the second round.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Todd is probably friends with his dad ( Morrison syndrome). He better bring it .
I noticed there is no mention of his coverage skill
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Did the Bucs think they were picking in the 3rd . Wtf . CJ Allen was the pick .
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Head scratcher?
April 24th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
He’s young, physical, smart, high football IQ
April 24th, 2026 at 8:11 pm
Wow, thought it might be a little bit of a reach especially considering there were other guys there who didn’t have some of the issues in coverage and getting off blocks as Trotter has. Hope the Bucs are right with this.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:11 pm
This one is a head scratcher man.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:11 pm
Trust the process. Teams like the Jets draft big names. Welcome to the Krewe, Trotter!
April 24th, 2026 at 8:11 pm
The Falcons drafted AJ Terrell brother
April 24th, 2026 at 8:11 pm
Or Hill. Let’s go Trotter time to be the man. Welcome to Tampa where we love linebackers. I trust Jason when it comes to linebackers so let’s get to work
April 24th, 2026 at 8:12 pm
The trend of boneheaded 2nd round picks continue
April 24th, 2026 at 8:12 pm
And as is tradition the 2nd round pick falls flat. Cj Allen here over Trotter.or Hill.
Really needed to get Allen or Rodriguez here. I hope im wrong
April 24th, 2026 at 8:12 pm
I’m sure. If he’s as good as last year’s 2nd pick he would be a liability on kickoff coverage, much less getting field time.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:12 pm
Look, can he cover? Doesn’t seem to be his strength, but one thing you notice on film is that he tackles very well….and I opine that was probably one of our weakest points of the defense last year
April 24th, 2026 at 8:12 pm
Blows it out of the water on the first round pick and then craps the bed in round 2…. Come on man!! Boooooooooo!!! What does Saban says this guys biggest issue….. can he become a 3 down LB because his coverage skills are horrible.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:13 pm
I don’t understand why we skipped 2 obviously better players in Allen and Hill. This dude has no coverage abilities and is super raw considering we need a starter this year. We are probably better off with Rozeboom out there. This pick sounds like overthinking and giving too much credit to the name “Trotter”. Oh well.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:13 pm
Hey Lakeland, are you actually a Bucs employee?
April 24th, 2026 at 8:13 pm
Could have traded back with the Colts and probably still made this pick. Typical!
April 24th, 2026 at 8:13 pm
He’s definitely not known for coverage. It’s a weak point of his from what I read so I really don’t get this one.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:13 pm
Josiah Trotter gonna be a star
Ronde played with his dad with the Bucs
The guy can play football, he’s lights out
April 24th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
Passed on Allen, Hill, Golday, McCoy, Terrell
Trotter is slow and cant cover.
Guess they are rolling with Rozeboom as starter.
Yuk
April 24th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
J Rod is a turn over machine. We could have used those skills to get the defense off the field. Lets see how Trotter can handle 3rd and 28.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
Joe
This team sucks
A slow linebacker who can’t cover cmon man
April 24th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
I’ll look at the bright side – at least we’ve got a thumper against teams who like to run the ball. Do we play any of those teams this season?
April 24th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
Bizarre pick Licht may have whiffed
April 24th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
I know good football players
And Josiah Trotter is a good football player
April 24th, 2026 at 8:15 pm
At least Licht didn’t pick a kicker.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:15 pm
*shrug* Josiah can learn behind Voss Dennis?
April 24th, 2026 at 8:15 pm
Classic Jason Licht, CJ Allen and Hill are better. He said let me get the guy, who’s the 6th best linebacker.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:16 pm
Never understood people getting upset over a draft pick. You literally have absolutely no idea how these kids will turn out.
That said, I was psyched for CJ Allen but whatever, we’ll see what happens
April 24th, 2026 at 8:16 pm
If you don’t like him
That’s too bad, the pick is in
It’s official
April 24th, 2026 at 8:16 pm
Terrible pick. This team has no ability to scout players. The only reason they got Bain was because he literally fell into their lap. Trotter is basically SVD 2.0. What a waste of a pick.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:16 pm
Scouts seem to be all over the place with him. We’ll see!
April 24th, 2026 at 8:16 pm
I was hoping for another Guard out of Hobart!
April 24th, 2026 at 8:17 pm
This is very aggravating, why are we drafting another LB that has problems getting blown up and can’t cover WTF they could have picked him in the fifth round. 🤬 he’s another SD
April 24th, 2026 at 8:17 pm
Next…cover corner DB!!!!
April 24th, 2026 at 8:17 pm
Absolutely HATE this pick. Bites on every single play action fake like an idiot. Sirvocea 2.0…SMH
At least we saved our precious 4th round pick by not trading up 3 spots for JRod. Licht has become a hot garbage GM. Hoarding picks and then taking clowns like Trotter, JTS, Logan Hall, Braswell, etc. Shameful pick
April 24th, 2026 at 8:17 pm
Who cares about his dad??
His brother was picked a few years ago and still cant start. And I thought his brother was better in college.
This pick has me confused.
Nothing about this guy says “star” or even “stater”
April 24th, 2026 at 8:18 pm
This trotter guy eerily gives me Kwon Alexander vibes
April 24th, 2026 at 8:18 pm
All of you “gms” need to get a grip I get so tired of all you guy saying the pick is blow and you would have taken a different player! How about we wait and see how he play? If you guys knew as much as you think you do, you would be scouts.. let’s see how he plays
April 24th, 2026 at 8:19 pm
Hard wiff … CJ Allen
April 24th, 2026 at 8:19 pm
He’s K J Britt. Big hitter. Can’t cover.
Why bother. Let SirVonte Dennis keep playing. He’s faster than Trotter.
We keep collecting LBers that can’t play coverage, for a Coach that DEMANDS his LBers play coverage
Licht should be forbidden from drafting in the 2nd round. He just doesn’t seem to want to give Coach Bowles help on that defense.
This pick was a waste. It solved nothing
We still need a LBer,CB,Guard, and DT.
But now we wasted a 2nd round pick.
AGAIN.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:20 pm
I like that he’s only 21 like Bain. He can run downhill. But lateral and backpedal are very average. He didn’t run the 40 because he’s slow. His brother ran a 4.81, he’s probably around the same. We’ll need to draft another ILB later in the draft. Someone with speed and will likely be a developmental guy.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:20 pm
I hate the pick. Absolutely trash
April 24th, 2026 at 8:20 pm
Cj Allan and Hill there. Golday?
April 24th, 2026 at 8:20 pm
Unbelievable. Just more of the same failing formula. watch 5 min of tape of Trotter and then watch 5 min of tape of Emmanuel McNeil-Warren (6’4) safety and tell me who the better player is. Wild
April 24th, 2026 at 8:21 pm
Licht and Mike Biehl are smarter than all of us paper draft ankle biters…I trust their judgment.
As long as we draft a punter next, I’m good!
/joke
April 24th, 2026 at 8:22 pm
People are wrong saying Trotter is slow??????
Google says he ran 4.49 2nd 40 at NFL combine??????
That’s fast as hell for an ILB ??
Lavonte ran 4.62
Most reps on bench at the combine as well for ILB’s at 27
38.5” vertical as well….
This dude isn’t gonna be covering TE’s…
He’ll be in the box most of the time…
Let Alex Anzalone chase the TE’s in coverage….
April 24th, 2026 at 8:23 pm
Bucs could’ve more than likely picked up Hill in Rnd 2 & Trotter in Rnd 4 if they’d wanted, plus grabbed a quality CB in Rnd 3.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:24 pm
Bain fell into their laps in first round, not much of a decision, but when a decision needs to be made on close talent Bowles misses and Licht wants everyone to “look and me, I will prove you evaluators wrong” Oh well, he never gets held accountable.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:24 pm
Should have taken Hill. He’s athletic, fast and has been a starter from day one at Texas as a five star recruit. He has a MUCH higher ceiling.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:24 pm
Ugh. Don’t know these college guys but hard not to agree with the comments. What was wrong with Allen or a more athletic player like Hill? Or a bigger player like Golday.
The brass got drunk on Bain last night and lost the thread.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:26 pm
This was a second round pick with plenty of potential studs out there. I hope they aren’t screwing up in the second round again.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:27 pm
Not a good pick. Could pick him up on the 3rd or 4th. 1st pick A+
2nd pick D
April 24th, 2026 at 8:28 pm
For all you clowns acting like you know anything here is the espn write up on trotter
Trotter is very good at diagnosing and reading play development, and he is a very sure tackler with play strength to get the ball carrier to the ground — even when he can’t square up and make a clean hit. He plays with strong violent hands. In the passing game, Trotter keeps everything in front of him in zone coverage to diagnose, and he has the speed to cover running backs in man out of the backfield.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:29 pm
Please know what you are talking about before trashing a draft pick
April 24th, 2026 at 8:31 pm
Horrible. Can’t cover. Are we not going to address that? If they doing get pressure out CB depth is gonna get exposed again.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:31 pm
Highlights are all running plays. Forty time 4.61.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:32 pm
Good against the run.
Can’t cover or grab a blitzing sack.
Sounds about right when our needs are covering receivers and pressuring QB’s.
They grabbed Morrison last year when he has a history of injury, so he misses the preseason and starts the regular season injured.
Finally plays and mimics Braswell.
Sorry Jason, was a big supporter until you extended Bowles.
Guessing I’m not alone in that summation.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:36 pm
Colts just drafted CJ Allen. 4.47 speed.
Fantastic coverage skills.
Trotter is a 4.8 guy, if he had ran.
He didn’t run at combine or his pro day.
Jason Licht just can’t draft in round 2
April 24th, 2026 at 8:39 pm
Quite literally a garbage organization now. Heading to be the browns of the NFC. I mean hard to believe that Tom Brady came here and won a Super Bowl with this incompetence. Says a lot about TB that he was able to win despite their blundering.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:39 pm
Just bc ESPN and NFL Network don’t like the pick, bc it’s not where they had him graded, don’t mean we are reaching. There is a reason they are writing for espn or doing draft analysis for the networks, bc they can get nfl front office jobs.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:39 pm
It’s not that difficult…. Take CJ Allen and move on, I just don’t get it. SVD breathing better now. Ouch.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:41 pm
Can you clowns not read??
Trotter is very good at diagnosing and reading play development, and he is a very sure tackler with play strength to get the ball carrier to the ground — even when he can’t square up and make a clean hit. He plays with strong violent hands. In the passing game, Trotter keeps everything in front of him in zone coverage to diagnose, and he has the speed to cover running backs in man out of the backfield.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:42 pm
Had ChatGPT pull together a summary on Trotter, his draft position, likely role, etc. Noone will be surprised that:
– He is slow- no 40 at the combine, but there was an unofficial report he ran a 5.1 sec 40 during combine workouts
-He is likely a 2 down player
-He was overdrafted, and was not a good pick
April 24th, 2026 at 8:45 pm
So it’s clear you guys just want to make up arguments to validate a pick you don’t like while ignoring facts
Trotter is very good at diagnosing and reading play development, and he is a very sure tackler with play strength to get the ball carrier to the ground — even when he can’t square up and make a clean hit. He plays with strong violent hands. In the passing game, Trotter keeps everything in front of him in zone coverage to diagnose, and he has the speed to cover running backs in man out of the backfield.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:45 pm
Why?
April 24th, 2026 at 8:46 pm
Whats the word on CJ Allen? Why is he sliding and why tampa passed on him.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:47 pm
Licht always has to make a few “smartest guy in the room” picks.
April 24th, 2026 at 8:48 pm
Who cares if the kid can play ILB? He’s got long arms!!!
April 24th, 2026 at 8:50 pm
It clear the bucs are picking nasty dog energy I like it
April 24th, 2026 at 8:55 pm
Been mentioning this dude from Mizzou as an ILB to like if not JRod. I was surprised he wasn’t being mentioned along with the other guys like Hill, Louis, etc.
I love this pick. This defensive overhaul is impressive this off-season and what a ‘tude change!
April 24th, 2026 at 8:55 pm
If all we want are bad asses, can probably get them from a SuperMax prison. They have to be able to play better than other guys who were available for drafting. Trotter looks like a 2 down run-stuffer. One who won’t be fast enough to cover backs in the flat.
April 24th, 2026 at 9:01 pm
Not sure about this pick at all. And we did so great in the 1st round……
April 24th, 2026 at 9:03 pm
Thought they could have got him in 3rd. Like Allen and Hill better at ILB. Wish they would have got Hunter DT in 2nd and Troetter in 3rd
April 24th, 2026 at 9:06 pm
Colts just drafted CJ Allen. 4.47 speed.
Fantastic coverage skills.
Trotter is a 4.8 guy, if he had ran.
He didn’t run at combine or his pro day.
That should have told you every thing you wanted to know.
He’ll be a slow thumper, in a defense that demands fast sideline to side line guys
Jason Licht just can’t draft in round 2
April 24th, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Mitch the kid had 1 pass defense the whole 25 season? NFL Teams have been beating the Bucs over the middle passing on our linebackers, did you watch any of our games last season? We need linebackers that can cover, not just stop the run.
April 24th, 2026 at 9:15 pm
Thank you, Mitch and Bucfan1988, for some concrete, objective information to counter the “he’s slow” and “he can’t cover receivers” characterizations. The short video that accompanies this entry, although admittedly cherry-picked, shows that he is fast enough to cover sideline to sideline and to crash into the backfield. He’s also quick enough to dodge potential blockers. And when he makes contact, he brings the ball carriers down. It didn’t show him covering receivers downfield, but he was covering backs coming out of the backfield. I suspect that at least some commenters, like me, knew little about this player before tonight and, unlike me, are disappointed that players better known to them were not chosen. I say , let’s give the man a chance. He played only two years at two different schools, so he hasn’t had a lot of hype by his schools and consequently in the media. Looks like a wrecking ball to me.
April 24th, 2026 at 9:16 pm
This Sucks
April 24th, 2026 at 9:26 pm
Loved the Bain pick. He’s a dawg, loves football.
Trotter? Slow, can’t cover. Idunno know but for some strange reason I thought the Bucs needed a run-stuffing, covering TE LB who was fast and legit?
And then the Bucs in their second pick chose the least of the LB’s available on the board at that time.
Family pedigree aside, really bad decision by Licht, IMO.
IF, in 2-3 years, this guy actually turns out to be a nasty, vicious, play-making stud roaming the middle of the Bucs D, I will eat my words.
I don’t understand this pick.
April 24th, 2026 at 9:28 pm
Nepotism rules!
#sarcasm
April 24th, 2026 at 9:28 pm
Wow, I was missing out. I can’t believe I was the only one not obsessively watching Missouri football last season. I wish I could be an expert on this kid like everyone else here.
April 24th, 2026 at 9:37 pm
I absolutely despise you idiots being negative. Not a single person knows how any of these kids are going to end up. No one.
I wanted CJ Allen, but oh well. It’s the draft, it’s off-season. It’s time to be optimistic.
If you’re going by all these sites and where are they rank players, it was styles followed by a group of 4-5 other linebackers who were all rated the same so who really cares what these so-called ranking experts say.
Give the kid a great welcome and some optimism and give him a chance
April 24th, 2026 at 9:39 pm
Watch Trotter’s highlights. He’s *way* faster than 4.8. My guess is he’s 4.4-4.5. He looks really, really quick; he stacks and sheds extremely well, he’s very laterally quick and he TACKLES like his hair is on fire. He tackles right through people and wraps them up beautifully- something only Lavonte was doing on our defense last year. I didn’t know much about him before now, but he sure looks good to me. The form tackling is beautiful to see and **much needed!**
He probably was a bit of a reach but only because he wasn’t getting the attention he deserved and he certainly would have gone before we picked again anyway.
April 24th, 2026 at 9:40 pm
And who are you people saying he’s slow? Did you watch one single game? This kid played at Missouri?
By all accounts, he is very fast & explosive & diagnosis plays great. Is every bit as fast as CJ Allen, who was my choice but I’m over it
April 24th, 2026 at 9:44 pm
I nailed it! He’s a 4.49 40 which is absolutely EXCELLENT! That makes him faster than David. 27 reps which is great. 38.5 inch vertical. He’s extremely athletic and built like a monster. Very exciting.
April 24th, 2026 at 9:56 pm
Fire Licht right now. Damaged goods, again!
April 24th, 2026 at 9:57 pm
Stpete Matt
Anyone saying he is slow has absolutely no clue. They’re going by some idiotic website that ranks players and they never actually watched any Missouri games. I saw several because they played in the SEC and the kid is fast. He’s explosive. He’s a great tackler. He’s just like CJ Allen.
The only difference is Allen allegedly covers better…. whatever… We’ll find out.
LFG!!!
April 24th, 2026 at 10:26 pm
Disappointed! Wanted Jrod who we would have had to traded up to get. Hill Jr was my next pick then Allen. Needed someone that could cover. Bowles so concerned about stopping the run in a passing league. Can’t wait for Lovie 2 to get canned. He never learns! If Trotter ends up being his Dad then great and I’ll eat my words but…
April 24th, 2026 at 10:51 pm
That is not a very good scouting report. Might be a case of Licht trying to prove he’s smarter than everyone again.