Bucs rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter.

Smokescreen or reality?

The NFL Draft is always a wild ride. Players (and their agents) think they will be selected by team X, Y or Z, and then they go elsewhere. Sometimes intel is good. Sometimes it’s garbage or intended to lead a gossip-hound agent to leak information that distracts another club.

Joe loves hearing about the drama.

Bucs rookie second-round pick Josiah Trotter told the Mr. Bucs Nation YouTube channel that he thought he was headed for the Big Apple to play for John Harbaugh.

“I [felt] like if I had made it to the Bucs there was a high chance they would take me, but I know there were some teams, from some grades like that, I could have went earlier than [Tampa Bay],” Trotter said. “I didn’t know if I was going to land in Seattle; that was one. And then the Giants, I thought I was probably going to be in New York.

“Yeah, I thought I was going to be in New York. Dallas was another one. Denver, if I had made it all the way to Denver. There was definitely some teams. … From the grades and stuff I had, I didn’t know if I was going to make it to the Bucs or not.”

Trotter added there were a couple of teams that gave him a scenario, saying if X happens, we’ll draft you. He did not name those teams.

Note how Trotter twice mentioned “grades” he had entering the draft. That’s not him listening to Mel Kiper or Sean Sullivan. That’s certainly “grade” intel via Trotter’s agent.

Joe’s just glad Trotter is in Tampa. There were other inside linebackers Joe preferred in the draft, but 21-year-old Trotter should represent a significant upgrade and a high ceiling.