Josiah Trotter Has Something That Can’t Be Coached
August 25th, 2026
Todd Bowles a big fan.
Joe knows more than a couple of Bucs fans were outraged that the Bucs drafted Josiah Trotter. Why?
Well, someone (Joe always suspects the PFF tribe) must have wrote that Trotter, the Bucs’ second-round pick of an inside linebacker, cannot cover passes.
When this notion was brought up to high-level Bucs personnel men, they pushed back on Joe for remotely suggesting it. Among several things, Joe was told if Trotter ever does struggle defending the pass, then he can be coached up.
Well, after Bucs practice with the Jags today, Bowles mentioned something that Trotter possesses that cannot be coached up.
“He’s an instinctive football player,” Bowles said. “He’s very smart.
“He’s not just strong, he’s savvy. He knows how to slip blocks when it’s time to slip blocks, and you can’t teach that.”
Well, Joe knows one thing: Trotter has rizz. And he has swag. And he’s not afraid to let offensive players know it, too.
The Bucs last year sorely needed a guy who would, if need be, grab an opposing offensive player by the throat or simply lay the law down that the new Bucs defense won’t roll over like last year’s defense did.
Man, you can just see the change in the defense when Trotter is out there, hollering from across the line of scrimmage about how much damage he will do when the ball is next snapped.
Joe thinks Trotter has a chance to be a special player.
August 25th, 2026 at 3:34 pm
Exciting!
August 25th, 2026 at 3:42 pm
LFG!
August 25th, 2026 at 3:44 pm
Wasn’t outraged at all. Wanted him leading up to Draft. If we couldn’t get JRod, I wanted this cat for our ILB room.
In other news, known Harry Potter lover and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter fan Mike Evans now works for a rather frugal in the limelight boss who loves himself The Wizarding World of Whor….never mind 😂
August 25th, 2026 at 3:56 pm
Is the immortal words of Greg Schiano, Mike Evans has a groin.
August 25th, 2026 at 4:13 pm
Evans has zero chance to play more than 13 games this year..max.
August 25th, 2026 at 4:16 pm
Lol
August 25th, 2026 at 4:21 pm
Secondary already looked like burnt toast today hopefully they can get some of that play better “swag”
August 25th, 2026 at 4:22 pm
Coverage was one thing – numbers were skewed against him from a bad start in 2025 on a new team with a new DC, and that late season coverage was good.
Injury history was another thing – MCL injury in high school; medical red shirt year rumored to be an ACL; and a knee arthroscopy in late 2025 that caused him to miss the Gator Bowl. How long are the wheels going to last? Surgical procedures have improved, but that still seems like high mileage.
The third thing was the other guy on the board – Anthony Hill, Jr. at Texas. Hill’s production at Texas left Trotter trotting in the dust. Hill is slightly younger, slightly taller, slightly heavier, slightly faster, and better has a better injury history – Hill played 40 straight games at Texas until he broke a bone in his hand punching the ball out in the fourth quarter while trailing in a close game against Georgia causing Hill to miss the last three games in 2025.
I hope that Trotter proves to be a flawless diamond for the Bucs.
But, from the information available to me as a fan, it seems that the Bucs rank some intangible higher than injury history and production.
I hope that they are right. But, it reminds me of one Joe’s recent posts about the qualms the Joe felt when Bowles commented on how fast off of the snap his pass rushers are this year, and the Joe reported having a JTS flashback.
August 25th, 2026 at 4:30 pm
So far everything I’m hearing about Trotter is great.
As for defending the pass – that was the big knock on him on pretty much every scouting report I saw, that and a lack of pure speed. They never said he’s slow, but that he’ll have problems keeping up with TE’s and RB’s – and not running a 40 helped reenforce that notion.
My issue with him has always been his fit in THIS defense. I think he’d be a stud as a MLB in a traditional 4-3, but Bowles has – for years now – has wanted his ILB’s to be pass coverage first LBs, so the fit didn’t seem great. I’d love to see either Trotter prove he can cover OR for Bowles to use guys in a way that best fits their skill set instead of trying to fit guys into a scheme.
In any case, the arrows are pointing up on defense so far with how good the rookies have looked.
August 25th, 2026 at 4:38 pm
That is to say, the Trotter hype is giving me flashbacks to the SVD hype.
Once the real games started, what the Bucs reported seeing in SVD in the preseason seemed to have been wishful thinking.
Rationally, I rate Trotter much higher than SVD. Trotter may or may not be a better pass rusher than SVD – SVD has actually excelled at rushing the passer. But, rushing the passer ranks third in the percentage of ILB snaps.
Trotter should greatly surpass SVD in run defense which ranks second in the percentage of ILB snaps. And, hopefully, Trotter will surpass SVD at least somewhat in coverage snaps which are the majority of ILB snaps.
But, it will take durability (on the field availability) and a great improvement over SVD in the majority of snaps that ILBs play coverage for me to believe that the Bucs made the best pick rather than just a good pick.
August 25th, 2026 at 4:41 pm
You cannot teach speed!! If you get burned by a running back or tight end.gonnafind out early cause burrow will test him right away!!
August 25th, 2026 at 5:04 pm
I do not see the post that preceded my 4:38 post.
I am included among those Joe mentioned who questioned the selection of Trotter. I had three areas of concern.
1. Coverage was my first concern. Trotter’s poor coverage numbers in 2025 have been explained away as a rough start on a new team with a new DC with a new scheme that everyone was learning. Supposedly, Trotter’s coverage improved as the season went along. I hope so.
2. Trotter seems to have already undergone a lot of wear and tear – an MCL injury in high school, a medical red shirt year rumored to have been an ACL injury. A third knee injury in late 2025 that ended his season and required a knee arthroscopic procedure. Did the Bucs get another Jamal Dean – someone who plays well, but misses chunks of seasons too often?
3. Did the Bucs leave a better choice on the board? Anthony Hill, Jr. played three seasons at Texas where he greatly exceeded Trotter’s production at West Virginia and Missouri; Hill is slightly younger, slightly taller, slightly bigger, and a bit faster than Trotter; Trotter played 40 straight games at Texas before breaking a bone in his hand punching the ball out while trailing Georgia in the fourth quarter – that cost him the last three games of 2025. Hills’ wheels seem like they have undergone much less wear and tear.
I hope that Trotter proves to be a flawless diamond for the Bucs. He looks like a good pick. But, to me with the information available to a fan, Trotter just doesn’t look like the best pick the Bucs had available.
And. I agree with Rod Munch – Trotter looks more like a great 4-3 MLB than a 3-4 ILB.
August 25th, 2026 at 5:07 pm
That should read Hill played 40 straight games at Texas …
August 25th, 2026 at 5:09 pm
Sirvocea was good as run defender over 100 tackles and his 10tfl was among leaders for lb
August 25th, 2026 at 5:13 pm
I thought this article was going to be about hand size
August 25th, 2026 at 6:06 pm
“My issue with him has always been his fit in THIS defense. I think he’d be a stud as a MLB in a traditional 4-3, but Bowles has – for years now – has wanted his ILB’s to be pass coverage first LBs, so the fit didn’t seem great.”
I bet you don’t know, it’s easier for Trotter to do what he does in a base 3-4 than it would be a base 4-3 because there’s no much 2-gappin in a 4-3, so it’s easier for interior OLmen to get to the 2nd level off chips or doubles. In a 3-4 there’s always a 2-gapper, meaning the other 3 OLmen left are likely occupied by the rest of the DL and have to guess right with 2 ILBs at the 2nd level. So, you’re essentially saying Trotter would be better by himself in the middle, which sounds a bit off.
Good thing for you, and this terrible take is that it does matter, because we never run a naked 3 man odd front, and when we do live up in our “base” that looks like a 5-man front m we usually rush 4 in a variety of ways.
Our nickel plays 60-70% of snaps, y’all still in here talking bout base defenses like it’s 1997
August 25th, 2026 at 8:25 pm
I didn’t realize Joe had a staff position opening for wanna be GMs. Pathetic
August 25th, 2026 at 8:30 pm
Nickerson
Brooks
David
Trotter
We have come full circle back to Nickerson 2.0
Ronde Called him Darth Vader walking around the locker room.
Nickerson was all business. He wasn’t a nice guy.
After leaving the Bucs, he went on to have 180 tackles for the Jags.
Donnie Abraham also moved on to earn multiple Pro Bowls
I still wish we had never let Nickerson or Donnie Abraham leave.
August 25th, 2026 at 8:34 pm
If it wasn’t for a bunch of the injuries & stuff I definitely would’ve considered taking him. I was just concerned about the injuries.
August 25th, 2026 at 9:39 pm
Warren Brooks Lynch – I see Trotter very much in the mold of a Hardy Nickerson – not saying he’s going to be that good, but that’s the style of player. IE, a STUD 4-3 MLB. But put Hardy in THIS 3-4 Bowles defense, where his top job would be defending the pass, and he’s not the Hardy Nickerson that should at least be mentioned in the HOF conversation.
In a base 4-3 defense, your MLB is protected by the 4 defensive lineman, and is normally a run first defender, and limited in his duties covering TEs and RBs – it happens, but it’s generally not their top priority and what they do on most plays.
And yes, teams use their base defenses less often they used to – however over the last few years, teams have done the typical pendulum thing and started swinging back more towards the run, which likely means we’re actually going to see more base defense over the coming years.
In any case, I still think Trotter will be a quality player, but it might take a bit before we see that on the field if Bowles is having him covering TEs and RBs 1-on-1, or backpedalling into zone on nearly every play. Devin White was a complete monster early on when he was used to pass rush and overall just be the Tasmanian Devil and cause havoc all over the place. Then Bowles changed the defense, to this awful passive zone garbage, and White’s production fell off a cliff and everyone demanded his head because he’d get burned in pass coverage (even though it didn’t happen nearly as often as people claimed). Then Britt came in, and he was dramatically worse, and everyone wanted his head. Then last year Dennis comes in, gets burned in coverage, and everyone wants his head. Do you see a pattern here?
August 25th, 2026 at 9:45 pm
Teacherman, we did not let Nicckerson go. He left on his own volition for much more money. Nikerson was always a mercenary and hired gun. He left the Steelers for the Bucs for the same reason.
August 25th, 2026 at 9:47 pm
Teacherman Says:
We have come full circle back to Nickerson 2.0
———-
Yeah, that’s the name that came to mind when I was watching him before the draft. However, Trotter is obviously not at that level – Nickerson was a guy who should have been a year in – year out ALL-PRO, but because he was on so many bad Bucs teams he was overlooked, and should at least be in the HOF conversation (not saying he should be in the HOF, but should be talked about as a nominee at least).
Nickerson, in 1993, had 214 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT. I see Trotter as that style of player. Not necessarily someone who is going to rack up sacks and INTs, but is a machine in the middle who sets the attitude for the defense. That’s what I mean when I say I see him as a stud in 4-3. He’s that style of player – and I don’t know if that style of player is a great fit for Bowles scheme. But we shall find out, and I hope Trotter can either pull it off, or Bowles changes his scheme to put Trotter in position to be productive, and isn’t just backpedaling at the snap of every play.
August 25th, 2026 at 9:55 pm
drdneast Says:
August 25th, 2026 at 9:45 pm
Teacherman, we did not let Nicckerson go. He left on his own volition for much more money. Nikerson was always a mercenary and hired gun. He left the Steelers for the Bucs for the same reason.
———–
Hardy was going to be 35, and had a heart condition that caused him to miss some games. The Bucs were so loaded with talent, they had to be pretty ruthless when it came to who they’d keep and who they’d let go. They let Hardy go, then the next year let Warrick Dunn and Donnie Abraham go. Things such as void years weren’t a thing yet, and the cap wasn’t as pliable as it is now, so you had to pick and choose on who you could keep, and who you couldn’t. In
BTW, in 2001, when they lost Dunn and Abraham, they managed to sign Simeon Rice. How? Through some good old fashioned under the table dealing, that caused other teams to complain to the NFL. Rice signed a 1-year / $1M deal – but with a handshake deal under the table that it would turn into a much bigger deal before 2002, I think like $7M a year or something. That’s basically how you got around the cap back then – just doing under the table deals.
August 26th, 2026 at 7:41 am
Rod, A.I. assisted answers aside
Since 2019, we’ve only lined up with 3 IDL 25-33% of the time over the years, that’s the low-high range. Even when we do, we flank those 3 IDL with our 2 OLBs and deploy a 5-man front. Looks like a 5-2-4, but personnel wise it’s really a front with 3IDL, 4LBs, 2CBs & 2 Safeties. Part of the hybridization is we can juggle our odd fronts between 3/5 out of that alignment which makes us more “mulitple” w/o mass subbing.
That’s why that old difference between the base defenses don’t apply here, because we don’t numerically put ourselves in 5-OLmen vs. 3 DLmen position. Our front is usually 3 IDL+2OLB vs 5 OLmen give our take a 6th man at TE.
So again, saying Trotter is a 4-3 or better suited for being an ILB in a 4-3, just rememder our “3-4” base. His job duties are split with him being the Mike & the 2nd ILB being the “Moe” and the IOL now has to guess right pre-snap who’s who when the flip between Mike & Moe can just happen with a call amongst our 2 ILBs to switch. Which take about half of what he’d have on his plate as a 4-3 ILB, you’ve got to read more gaps, not less.
August 26th, 2026 at 10:25 am
So we have to take the word of our personnel staff that they are going to be able to coach him up better and he will play it better. I’m not going to start holding my breath. What a crock. Coverage in the middle has been the downfall of this Bowles scheme for years. Why not pick the guy in the draft with the better coverage skills? Another JL genius pick. There will be no acceptable excuse if he can’t be “coached up” to play in coverage because he is too slow or doesn’t have the skills.
August 26th, 2026 at 10:38 am
“Coverage in the middle has been the downfall of this Bowles scheme for years. Why not pick the guy in the draft with the better coverage skills?”
It’s literally what we signed Anzalone for, we needed a Mike and Trotter was graded as one of the better box defending ILBs in the class. Posted 176 tackles, 17 TFLS, 2.5 sacks, 1 INT, & 3 PBUs in 23 games collegiately.
And he just had a pick today in joint practices