Bucs assistant envious.

The Bucs have hit a drought this decade when it comes to impactful defensive rookies.

Who was the last defensive rookie who showed right off the bat he can hang in this league? Jacob Parrish, maybe? But that seems a stretch.

Calijah Kancey had a quarterback hit in his debut in 2023, and promptly got hurt.

Joe thinks the last defensive rookie who made an impact right away was Antoine Winfield. Well, that was until last Sunday.

Inside linebacker Josiah Trotter blew up the Bucs’ record books by leading the team in tackles (10) while adding a sack and a pick-six.

Now *that* is an impact! So much so that Bucs outside linebackers coach Larry Foote confessed yesterday he’s a bit jealous of Trotter.

“Since he’s been here, he already ascended,” Foote bragged on Trotter. “I’m not surprised. [I’m] a little jealous.

“I played almost 13 years, and I hadn’t scored during my career, and he gets it [in his] first game.”

So what makes Trotter so good? Well, Foote said mentally, Trotter is absolutely locked in to the task at hand.

“He’s a serious player mentally and physically,” Foote said. “He’s about his business. I’m not surprised. We’ve been seeing it since training camp, him making plays.”

KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles absolutely nailed it on Trotter. During underwear football, folks were beginning to wonder why Trotter seemed invisible, whereas fellow rookies Rueben Bain and Ted Hurst were making plays daily, multiple plays.

Bowles cautioned the local pen and mic club that when the pads came on, you’d see Trotter show up. And boy, did he ever. That defense was totally different when Trotter was on the field.

Now that the rest of the NFL knows who Trotter is, and teams now have NFL film on him, the key for Trotter is how he counters what offenses are going to throw at him. Because they will be coming after him now.

And Joe thinks it is fair to suggest that, after Trotter dominated last week in Cincinnati, Browns coach Todd Monken has made Trotter a marked man this week in meetings in Cleveland.