Josiah Trotter Prospect Profile (Welcome To the Bucs!)

Josiah Trotter, welcome to the Bucks. Here's what Tampa Bay is getting in their second round draft pick. Very similar style, I think, in many ways, though. You're just kind of turning the knobs up with an even bigger player and a higher upside run defender than Keyshawn Elliott. There's some differences. We'll break it down. I do want to note that I do actually have a three-way tie for my number five linebacker. Three different players that came in with the same grade, which is a late second, early third-round grade on these upcoming three players. And as you'll see as we go here, all three of those guys, extremely different styles. Like, really could not find three different types of linebackers. So it's gonna come down to, like, what style you want with these upcoming three players specifically. But Josiah Trotter, it doesn't take long to see what type of linebacker this guy is. He's big, he's 6'2", almost 240 pounds. Honestly, with room to add to that frame, he's still very young. But, you know, very good arm length, 32 1⁄2 inches. And he is a North and South battering ram against the run. I think his physicality and especially his ability to take on blocks is some of the best in this draft. He just doesn't get caught up on blocks too often, which is not something you say a lot about college linebacker prospects. I think that's probably his biggest selling point. And again, young players still room to get even better in that department. But not only does he have many times that proper, like, stack-peak-shed ability and the ability to do that against climbing linemen as well, but he's... So I'll break down his athleticism. He's not the best athlete, but he does have light feet. And that allows him to kind of dance and be savvy around blocks at times as well. And he's instinctive to know when it's appropriate to do that as well. A lot of, like, linebackers with quick feet that can dance around blocks, they do it all the time and they take themselves out of the run game. Trotter will do it when he sees an opportunity to out-athlete a block. And the quick feet can come in handy there, but he doesn't depend on it. He can absolutely take you head-on in the run game as well. And I think just in all the other aspects of the run game, there's a lot to like. Like, I think he's a really good tackler, maybe not a perfect tackler, but the way he's able to see things quickly, play without hesitation, get downhill, the diagnostics are really good. He can be over-aggressive at times, so you wanna see the proper balance. That's how you get, if you're looking at the screen there, a B grade for the diagnostics. He knows what he's looking for. He sees things quickly and goes without hesitation, but the discipline grade is a D plus. He will outrun gaps. He will sometimes take himself out of the run by shooting things a little bit too quickly. And it shows up against play action as well. He will absolutely take the cheese on play action. So, you know, some coaches are more comfortable with that mentality than others. And some coaches will really try to get him to find that right balance in a young player there, which I think both are possible outcomes for him. One, to just be a head hunter. Number two, to really develop into a nice, well-rounded run defender. Now, I mentioned I would circle back to his overall athletic profile. We mentioned the quick feet. That's absolutely there for a guy his size. But he's not that fast. That's gonna be the big knock on him. You know, even compared to like Keyshawn Elliott, who's more of a run defense oriented player. We didn't get a 40 time from Josiah Trotter. I would be pretty surprised if he ran a 4.58 like Keyshawn Elliott was able to do. I don't think he's horribly slow, but that's how I get to my Alex Singleton comp, who's been a really nice linebacker in the NFL for about 10 years, despite being a guy whose long speed can be a limiting factor at times. Like if he's trying to track down a play to the sideline, whether it's a QB scramble or a fast running back, bounces it out to the outside, you know, his speed will stall out and his angle will end up breaking and he can end up not being the one that ends up making that tackle, right? So there's some limits with his long speed. But I think especially where you would ding him would be the change of direction and how it impacts his coverage ability. His hips are stiff as hell. And when he's dropping into zone or if he's trying to turn and run in man coverage, there's a whole extra hitch there. Like it is a laboring movement for him to turn and run. You want to keep him on one track, playing physical north and south in a box. And some systems are better at leveraging that as a strength. Some systems that can get exposed a little bit if you end up asking these guys to play in space a lot more. So you got to do some internal assessment of what kind of defense are we and what are we asking of our linebackers. I will say in past defense, Trotter is an excellent blitzer. He can overwhelm backs with his size and his power. Absolutely, but he was really impressive. Again, leveraging like sneaky quick feats with a really effective swim move that he didn't just use to destroy running backs in protection. He actually can break out that swim move as when linemen are stepping in to meet him. He has like the Euro step swim move that you like to see from some pass rushers. So he's got an added element as a blitzer to give you a little bit of something on third downs. But there really just is no mistake about who Josiah Trotter is. By the way, the son of Jeremiah Trotter. So he's got the bloodlines, grew up with the game. There are definitely moments from a young player where it shows like he's got the requisite mind for the position as well. He's not just this C ball, hit ball, go smash, Hulk type. So there's a good bit to like with him. Still young and room to grow in different pockets of his game for sure. But I liked him.