Josiah Trotter Already Looks The Part
September 17th, 2026
Catches eye of former NFL lineman.
Joe was pretty stoked to see in person what may turn out to be a historic game for the Bucs.
No, it wasn’t good history for the Bucs on Sunday in Cincinnati, as they lost a season-opener for the first time since Todd Bowles has been head coach.
However, a certain rookie linebacker sure demonstrated he belongs in the NFL.
Second-round draft pick Josiah Trotter had a debut for the ages. You don’t often see a guy get a pick-six, a sack and rack up 10 tackles in a game. Not many veterans. Not many rookies. And very few in their debut game.
Trotter did.
Trotter shattered a Bucs franchise record held by Derrick Brooks and Mason Foster for most tackles in an NFL debut. Joe’s not expecting Trotter to be the next Brooks, but if he is the next Foster, that’s not too bad.
Foster started on a playoff team (Washington). But yeah, he wasn’t good enough for lousy Lovie Smith.
(Man, Joe is pretty confident he has never met anyone in the NFL who was as pathetic at player evaluation as Lovie was. #LostDecade)
A favorite feature Joe’s during football season is when Brian Baldinger, a former NFL offensive lineman, breaks down tape of players and offers analysis on social media..
Trotter’s pick-six and his sack weren’t the only plays Trotter made Sunday. Baldinger highlighted a play where Trotter didn’t even record a sack. With the Bucs in goal line defense, Trotter lit up a Bengals offensive lineman, if for no other reason than to let the guy know Trotter is alive and well.
.@Buccaneers @Bengals @TrotterJosiah @JTrotter_54 in his first game recorded a TFL; a sack; a pick six…Already filling up the stat sheet while single handedly getting the Bucs back in the game. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/jCxy5vbQhK
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 15, 2026
September 17th, 2026 at 6:06 am
Joe … ‘You don’t often see a guy get a pick-six, a sack and rack up 10 tackles in a game.’
I’m still surprised that no one seems to be talking up his pass coverage productivity in Sunday’s game: 4 targets, 1 completion allowed for a 25% Pass Completion Allowance. And oh ya, 1 PD to put the cherry on the top.
After all the talk this summer about Josiah probably being a liability in the passing game because he’s ‘a thumper’ and not exceedingly fast, I think he pretty well showed what he’s capable of.
September 17th, 2026 at 6:15 am
“…delivered a little chin music right there…”
Awesome breakdown Baldy, once again.
Trotter got hosed this week. Should have been NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Trotter had better stats.
Zack Baun, PHI: 12 tackles, 2 passes defensed, and 1 TFL
Trotter: . . . . . . 10 tackles, 1 passes defensed, and 1 TFL, 1 Sack, 1 pick-6
Is it the Bucs curse of disrespect? Yea, I think so
September 17th, 2026 at 6:23 am
Gruden and Bowles comes to mind
September 17th, 2026 at 7:22 am
I wondered same Harry–only 4 of Trotter’s tackles were solo, (vs 7 of Baun’s) was apparently the thing
September 17th, 2026 at 7:34 am
It’s probably a few things. Name recognition for the player and the team ( National media loves those NFC East teams) plus the fact that Baun’s team won while we didn’t.
September 17th, 2026 at 7:40 am
Beej … i would expect that most of a MLB’s tackles would be gang-tackles (leading to an assist?) as opposed to solo. Well, unless he’s getting beaten a bunch in pass coverage and having to make the solo tackle as a consequence.
Don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but our Secondary as a whole had a nice day tackling. McCollum 9 tackles (8 solo), Morrison 4 tackles (4 solo), Parrish 2 tackles (2 solo), Scott 4 tackles (4 solo), Winfield 9 tackles (7 solo) and Tykee 4 tackles (3 solo).
Missed Tackles (MTs) weren’t bad for our Secondary (except for Scott, but he’s a rookie; he’ll be OK): McCollum 0 MT, Morrison 1 MT, Parrish 0 MT, Scott 2 MT, Winfield 0 MT and Tykee 0 MT.
September 17th, 2026 at 9:02 am
Rusty Vea with the pressure on the Pick 6, but to ya’ll he was invisible
September 17th, 2026 at 9:21 am
You know what I realized in this video? Vita Vea is better off the edge
September 17th, 2026 at 10:35 am
Great job JT45!! Keep it up.
September 17th, 2026 at 1:58 pm
They gave Trotter a lot of piling on tackles and some solo that were assisted
September 17th, 2026 at 2:31 pm
Him and bucky were about the only brightspots in that game.
September 17th, 2026 at 6:52 pm
Finally a linebacker who can fill the hole without over running the gap.