Todd Bowles Thinks Josiah Trotter Will Have Better Career Than His Pro Bowl Dad
May 14th, 2026
Rookie inside linebacker Josiah Trotter.
Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles is not holding back when it comes to 2026 expectations for the 2026 season, and for his young players.
Heck, Bowles was talking Super Bowl yesterday (see story on the home page).
While talking to The Jim Rome Show yesterday (SiriusXM Ch. 161), Bowles seemed to go all-in on his second-round pick, Josiah Trotter, the All-SEC linebacker out of the University of Missouri.
“I think he’s going have a better career than his dad had, and his brother had, hopefully,” Bowles said.
Trotter’s dad is four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Jermiah Trotter, who also was named All-Pro for the 2000 season alongside Ray Lewis and Buccaneers legend Derrick Brooks.
High bar!
“We think [Josiah Trotter] is very intelligent,” Bowles continued. “He can run. He’s got size. He’s going to strike you. And he’s a modern day football player and we think he’s very physical. I think from a physical standpoint he’s a lot like [Rueben] Bain.”
Joe loves the hype. But reality needs to be considered. Even Jeremiah Trotter needed a year to make his mark. He barely played as a rookie before exploding onto the NFC scene in 1999.
May 14th, 2026 at 3:46 pm
More Bowles fantasy nonsense being spewed by compliant lapdog sports media.
You guys really need to call him out when he has one of these sugar induced episodes.
Are the Glazers handing out medical grade gummies to the staff at OBP??
If I had no idea what happened in 2025, I’d think Bowles had this team right on the cusp of a title. Based on the uber positive ramblings.
That or he’s had a stroke after his 100th Kit Kat of the day.
May 14th, 2026 at 3:48 pm
Josiah Trotter has everything it takes to be a good Mike LB
He’s young, he don’t have to be rushed into stardom
May 14th, 2026 at 3:55 pm
I’m not going to lie at first I got caught up in what certain people were saying that we took Trotter early but that quickly went away after I started to learn more and more about Trotter and the more I watched him the more I liked an thought we got the right guy 1st off his pedigree is great his Dad was great and his brother is playing for the Eagles and Trotter might be the best of all he has the Speed an toughness along with the Attitude to be great
May 14th, 2026 at 3:57 pm
Vast majority of drafted players develop over year one and two. That’s pretty much the reality.
Making the playoffs this season should be the goal and a Super Bowl in another year or two. Bucs need to get the team younger throw the draft
May 14th, 2026 at 4:02 pm
Building confidence!!!!!
This kid will be counted on all season…I think he’ll be great ASAP
GO BUCS
May 14th, 2026 at 4:03 pm
Offseason Hype and Postseason excuses – The Todd Bowles Method
Rinse and repeat
May 14th, 2026 at 4:04 pm
We drafted him, so he must be great!
Reminds me of those pee wee football dads who embrace their inherent bias by thinking their QB son will have a better career than Tom Brady.
Fine, think what you want.
Just prepare yourself for a sting when reality bites.
May 14th, 2026 at 4:04 pm
Bowles won’t be around to see it.
Tomlin will get the kid there.
May 14th, 2026 at 4:26 pm
If everything goes right, this kid stays healthy and gets some good work during the preseason, he can out perform his brothers’ first 2 years of production as a rookie. Start with junior, then try to get to dads’ level
May 14th, 2026 at 4:54 pm
I would be far less excited to have Tomlin than Bowles. He’s a super boring football coach.
May 14th, 2026 at 4:55 pm
‘Joe loves the hype. But reality needs to be considered.’
I get the feeling, for some reason, that Todd Bowles cannot win. Forget games, he can’t win in the media. When he’s ‘negative’ (like after several games) folks were all over him for throwing players under the proverbial bus. When he’s ‘positive’ it’s ‘hype’ and he’s chastised for being too positive. And if he’s ‘in the middle’ he’s poked fun at for being ‘stoic’.
I’d bet that Todd has gotten to the point where he really doesn’t give a sh1t what the media or fans say about him. There’s only 1 way for him to really ‘win’ … and that’s to pile up wins on the field. I for one HOPE that he does exactly that this year because that’d mean that my Bucs were the ones who really won. Todd’s got too much class to do this, but if the Bucs have a great year, I wouldn’t blame him for leasing a billboard & posting a giant picture of him flashing the middle finger to all who’ve been flashing the middle finger at him for the past several years.
May 14th, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Sorry Joe. Sometimes the unnecessary criticism of Todd Bowles gets me carried away.
May 14th, 2026 at 5:43 pm
Saskbucs Says:
“Offseason Hype and Postseason excuses – The Todd Bowles Method
Rinse and repeat”
Well said sir. Hit the dart board bulls eye on that one.
That’s all you get with the Toilet Bowles.
Unrealistic uber positive Pom Pom waiving lemming speak.
Then we step on a rake half way through the season and never recover.
It’s the low expectations of a fraud that has no clue what he’s doing.
May 14th, 2026 at 6:08 pm
I said before the draft that Trotter’s like he’s going to be a good NFL MLB, he just plays like one – the type of guy you put in a 4-3, and he’s just a really good solid NFL LB.
But I also said I don’t think he works at all in Bowles 3-4 since I’m not sure Trotter has the speed and coverage ability you need. I had Trotter on my do not draft list for the Bucs purely because of fit.
I can already hear it now, the first time he gets beat in coverage, all the same people that wanted White, Britt and Dennis ran out of town are all going to be demanding Trotter’s head as well.
In any case, I’m not going to take part in they lynch mob since they’re just boring. He will get beat, every LB gets beat at some point, when that happens just chill out and remember the kid is a rookie, and is very young. The big thing I’m going to personally look for is if he has the speed required in Bowles 3-4 – and if Bowles will make adjustments if not. I will say Trotter is NOT KJ Britt slow, he’s more of an average speed guy, but NFL TEs have gotten a lot faster in the last few years, and I think that’s where he might struggle. But we shall see, I could be wrong, and there are legit NFL scouts I’ve read – that aren’t hacks – who do think he has enough speed and quickness to do the job.
May 14th, 2026 at 6:10 pm
LynchMob there’s no way to prevent injuries. They either happen or they don’t. These last couple seasons they have happened- in DROVES. A season without injuries will be a wildly successful one.
May 14th, 2026 at 6:25 pm
Tomlin is a tough minded coach.
You never heard of bored, soft Steelers.
Besides, taking a year off and looking at the game from the outside will do wonders for Tomlin’s perspective.
Rating Bowles above Tomlin is laughable, on multiple levels. One of the biggest mistakes glacier ever made was not hiring him sooner.