Josiah Trotter Changing The Mentality Of The Defense By Himself
August 7th, 2026
Transforming defense?
For Joe, this is the football equivalent of watching a puppy begin to learn to walk.
For the few thousand who were in the Glazer Shed on Tuesday night, they may have seen the beginning of a culture change. It may have been the night Bucs rookie Josiah Trotter put his personal stamp on the defense.
Now a lot has to go right for the linebacker from Missouri. But it was sort of a coming out party for Trotter. He’s a physical, demonstrative player and in that night practice, he was in the middle of a scrap and later began barking at the offense.
It looked like he was taking control of the defense himself.
The Bucs defense, maybe for the first time all training camp, looked like a unit that Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles wanted: a violent and passionate team.
That last phrase describes Trotter in a nutshell. He plays loud. He plays violent. And he’s not afraid to tell you about it.
Bowles had been saying since OTAs that to see the real Trotter, wait until the pads come on. The pads came on this week and Bowles was absolutely right. Since, Trotter and the Bucs defense (when coaches allow the secondary to hit) are a far cry from the soft, quitting defense last year that threw in the towel.
“Yeah, he’s been coming along great,” Bowles said. “We knew his impact would be felt once we got in pads.
“That’s kind of what we saw in college. He makes his presence felt. He’s really picking up the scheme really well and understanding what he can do to cheat to make plays within it.”
Look, Joe’s not suggesting a few good practices make a defense. But to see Trotter begin to bloom and be the player Bowles always said he would be is very encouraging.
If Trotter keeps this up, the Bucs defense could turn from the scared litter of puppies it was last year to the dawgs so many people hope the defense can be.
August 7th, 2026 at 9:08 am
Hopefully he can but he has not been tested yet
August 7th, 2026 at 9:11 am
It’ll be interesting to see if, in five years, we’re seeing a second version of Sapp-Brooks-Lynch in Bain-Trotter-Scott.
August 7th, 2026 at 9:12 am
Remember he is a rookie and I would expect Bowles to pump him up. I know this it would be better to have Vea infront of him. You want to help Trotter look mean sign Vea
August 7th, 2026 at 9:18 am
Long ago it was Hardy Nickerson that changed the way we played defense. Now it’s going to be Josiah Trotter. Let’s Go!!!
August 7th, 2026 at 9:21 am
“Long ago it was Hardy Nickerson that changed the way we played defense.”
I came here to make this reference, and by golly you stole it lol
Also, why isn’t it Costa Rican Juan? just curious
August 7th, 2026 at 9:23 am
Here we go again…….rookies will lead the Bucs to the promised land….
August 7th, 2026 at 9:28 am
Wait until Bowles has him covering wide receivers 30 yards downfield.
#CultureClub
August 7th, 2026 at 9:30 am
With an effective pass rush there won’t be an opportunity for players to get 30 yards downfield
August 7th, 2026 at 9:39 am
Keep your pants on. Geeez. 1 padded practice and he’s HOF.
August 7th, 2026 at 9:50 am
Makes more sense now as to why Trotter was selected ahead of Jake Golday and CJ Allen of Georgia.
August 7th, 2026 at 9:53 am
Nice.
His dad was a beast…
I hope the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.
August 7th, 2026 at 9:59 am
No violence or passion last season? Who were these supposed team captains?
August 7th, 2026 at 10:04 am
football1
PREACH!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
August 7th, 2026 at 10:14 am
We got some dawgs in there
August 7th, 2026 at 10:23 am
BuccoMarty Says:
August 7th, 2026 at 9:11 am
It’ll be interesting to see if, in five years, we’re seeing a second version of Sapp-Brooks-Lynch in Bain-Trotter-Scott.
____________________________________________________________
Sapp-Brooks-Lynch-Barber in Bain-Trotter-Scott-Parrish.
August 7th, 2026 at 11:16 am
Raising my glass to the possibilities.
August 7th, 2026 at 11:19 am
They might be dawgs, except Zyon McCollum and Benjamin Morrison. “Bored & Brittle,” are kittens.
August 7th, 2026 at 11:21 am
Sounds a lot like Devin White, always heard and seen more missing tackles and taking bad angles who seems to like the dot light on him. Temper your expectations until after the 1st for games peoples
August 7th, 2026 at 11:23 am
“Look, Joe’s not suggesting a few good practices make a defense. But to see Trotter begin to bloom and be the player Bowles always said he would be is very encouraging.”
It’s definitely better than the opposite viewpoint. Good stuff Joe!
August 7th, 2026 at 11:37 am
Going to be interesting to see who is the Mike when they go nickel. I gotta think Scott will be the big nickel. 3-4 schemes with a big nickel have gone with the big nickel over 2 LBs for more and more snaps each season.
August 7th, 2026 at 11:46 am
Yes Sir! Younger ,stronger ,faster ,Angry!! Out with the old in with the new! Vea? He’s gotta go to!! Evans Express!
August 7th, 2026 at 11:47 am
I thought they took Trotter a round too early. I wanted CJ Allen. In fact, a lot of people on here had CJ in Round 1. Update: CJ has been out with a hamstring all camp.
So far, Licht has got it right.
August 7th, 2026 at 11:59 am
Lavonte David is a very different kind of person than Trotter, so it makes sense that the kid is going to raise the noise more than last year. Lavonte was a lead by example type of player, and you’d see it in how he laid guys out in his earlier career.
The trouble with guys like Lavonte is when the wheels come off and they’re not able to get it done like they used to. A void gets created and a team like the 2025 Bucs no longer has the impact guy setting the tone.
Trotter has the pedigree and attitude to succeed. His tape is interesting when comparing the first half of his 2025 season at Missouri to the second half. He finally figured things out in their scheme and was a terror both in the run and pass coverage.
I hope his learning curve defending the pass in Bowles’ defense is shorter than it is for some young players.
August 7th, 2026 at 12:09 pm
He has good pedigree. Rarely do players from a father and/or brothers that played in the NFL fail, if they make it that far.
August 7th, 2026 at 12:18 pm
@ Bad
I agree.
Let’s just wait and see how things go after day #2 in pads… lol.
The Bucs could really use a break at ILB… LVD was great but he was drafted back in 2012…
We really need this young man to be special.
August 7th, 2026 at 12:25 pm
Sapp, Brooks. Bain, Trotter. We’ve seen two rookies change a defense, change a franchise. These two have what it takes.
August 7th, 2026 at 12:28 pm
So far so good.
August 7th, 2026 at 12:39 pm
WBL, there are a lot of us gringos in CR. There are plenty of Juans of course also.
August 7th, 2026 at 1:52 pm
Looking at the DLine & LB talent that we’ve got, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see Bowles using a lot more traditional 4-3 formations this year … rushing 4 a lot more often, with 1-2 blitzers thrown in for good measure. Pass rush has often seemed to me to be more of a numbers game than anything else. Gain the advantage in numbers attacking, and it should become easier to get the blockers to make mistakes (trying to figure out who to pick up?).
The DLineman I’m most excited about is A-Shawn Robinson. He doesn’t get a whole bunch of sacks or QB hits, but he literally owns the space that he gets assigned. The guy’s a beast, and he’ll be the perfect fit into Todd Bowles defense. Over his career he’s averaged exactly 500 def snaps/year, but it looks like he can be counted on for 650 snaps if need be (hopefully we can keep rotating guys however to keep them fresh). He’s got 500 tackles in 143 games; averages out to 3.50 tackles/game over his 10-year career. Plus a career Missed Tackle Rate of only 5.4% (which is awesome BTW). The only DT I’ve found with a higher tackles per game is the Titans Jeffrey Simmons … 3.80 tackles/ game over his 99 games, but with a career Missed Tackle Rate of 8.7%.
To put that in perspective, Ndamukong Suh averaged 3.02 tackles/game over his 13-year career, with a 6.2% Missed Tackle Rate. Vita Vea has averaged 2.29 tackles/game over his 8-year career, with a 7.6% Missed Tackle Rate. And my favorite, Will Gholston, averaged 2.32 tackles/game over his 12-year career, with an awesome Missed Tackle Percentage of only 3.7%.
Like I said, A’Shawn is a beast in terms of protecting his territory. I can imagine a formation with Vea & Robinson inside, Kancey & Bain (or Diaby or Muhammad) as DEs, and then Anzalone, Trotter plus 1 as LBs (Rozeboom or SVD or Scott). Rush the Front-4 & blitz 1 or 2. That should give the opposing OC something to think about.
August 7th, 2026 at 2:14 pm
That’s what they were going for. Man this would be great. Kinda like when suh took over for GMC. I’m a GMC fan but there deff was a difference and he n the end it worked out great.
August 7th, 2026 at 2:16 pm
get with it buc haters, its only a matter of which bucs defensive rookie that is going to win rookie of the year, not if. lol
the best games are the ones the media plays with buc fans before one minute of the season is played. trotter, bain, maybe that injured guy, we’re not sure!!!
there is a shortage of gold cloth in america cause the buc rookies are all getting jackets this week.
August 7th, 2026 at 2:47 pm
It’s rare to see a rookie taking command like that. Good on him.
August 7th, 2026 at 3:21 pm
So far this rookie class sounds amazing. Hopefully it keeps up when it matters.
August 7th, 2026 at 3:24 pm
Jimmy calm down francis there are no Buc haters up here newbie poster. We’ve been around a whole lot longer than you and seen enough not to be too optimistic but because we are Buc fans we do puff on the hopium pipe. True Buc fans don’t switch teams because their favorite qb switches teams and unfortunately we have a lot of them up here pretending to be Buc fans, you should go after them.
August 7th, 2026 at 3:25 pm
Keep it up Trotter. Someone needs to show Bowles how’s it done. Bain will bring more than Trotter once the game day pads go on.
August 7th, 2026 at 4:06 pm
Well, as Bowles has said (unless I’m misquoting him), these guys need to coach themselves.
August 7th, 2026 at 9:08 pm
Badbucs Says:
August 7th, 2026 at 9:39 am
Keep your pants on. Geeez. 1 padded practice and he’s HOF.
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I am with you. They already crowned Bain now they are crowning Trotter and NEITHER has even played a down in the NFL yet.