The Buccaneers drafted Josiah Trotter in the second round hoping they’d found a future star at linebacker.
So far, he’s looking a lot like one.
Through six games, the rookie has piled up 62 tackles, which ranks seventh in the NFL. He’s also already checked every box that usually belongs to veterans: three tackles for loss, one sack and one interception. That combination puts him in a very small club, with only four NFL players reaching 50 or more tackles, at least three tackles for loss, and at least one sack and interception.
What makes Trotter’s start even more striking is that he missed a game earlier in the season with a shoulder injury.
When he’s on the field, he’s been relentless. In four of his six games played, Trotter has finished with 10 or more tackles, and he’s averaging more than 10 per game.
If he had hit that average in the Sept. 27 game he missed against the Minnesota Vikings, he would be second in the league behind only Alex Singleton of the Denver Broncos. The six players ahead of him have all played in seven games.
Then came the road game against the Cincinatti Bengals, where Trotter put together the kind of stat line that gets attention fast. He returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown, but that was only part of the performance. By the end of the day, he had become the first rookie in NFL history to finish his debut with 10 or more tackles, a sack and a pick-six in their NFL debut.
For Tampa Bay, that’s the payoff for taking a chance on a young player with a limited college résumé. Trotter was one of the youngest prospects in the draft, turning 21 earlier in April. He played only three college football seasons and sat out one because of injury.
The pedigree helps explain why the Bucs were comfortable making the move. Josiah is the son of Jeremiah Trotter, a multi-time All-Pro at the same position. Jeremiah played 11 seasons in the NFL, including eight with the Philadelphia Eagles and one with the Buccaneers.
It’s not exactly the same as having Derrick Brooks or Ronde Barber’s son in the mix, but it’s still a notable detail for Tampa Bay.
There was even a moment earlier this month that tied the family history together in a way only the NFL can. Jeremiah Trotter played against Aaron Rodgers in 2006, and when Rodgers got the chance to face Josiah, he made a point of telling the younger Trotter that he had played against his father.
For Rodgers, that probably felt like a reminder of how long he’s been around. For Josiah Trotter, it may have felt like a signal that he’s already arrived.
In Other News...
Buccaneers Have A Real Chance To Seize NFC South Control
A Week 8 swing could leave the Buccaneers in a much different spot in the NFC South race, and the timing matters as much as the result. Tampa Bay has been hovering around the edge of the division picture, but a strong showing against Atlanta would give the Bucs a chance to turn a crowded, uncertain race into something that looks more manageable heading into the next stretch.
The rest of the weekend brings its own pressure points, with Carolina also in the mix and Green Bay standing in the way of the Panthers. Tampa Bay does not need the whole board to break perfectly to feel better about its position, but it does need help elsewhere, and the division could look very different by Sunday night depending on how those results land. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Just Got The NFC South Opening They Needed
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Tampa Bay now has a chance to turn that outside break into real leverage, and the stakes are obvious even before kickoff. A win would leave the Buccaneers in striking distance of first place and strengthen their position in the division picture, while a loss would leave them scrambling to recover in a race where every result seems to matter twice as much this time of year. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers May Have An Offensive Problem Fans Never Expected
In a season where the Buccaneers expected their offense to lean on its usual aerial punch, the early results have pointed in a different direction. Injuries and offensive line issues have helped drag the passing game down, and the unit has struggled to get key receivers involved with any consistency. Instead, Tampa Bay has found more success on the ground, a shift that has changed the feel of the offense and forced a different kind of identity than many around the team might have anticipated.
Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Zach Robinson have both made it clear the run game is now the priority, with the coaching staff treating it as the foundation for everything else. For a team that has long been defined by what it can do through the air, the challenge now is whether this more deliberate, run-first approach can hold up long enough to keep the offense balanced and dangerous, especially if the passing game continues to lag behind. [Read more 🡒]