Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Josiah Trotter has already caught the eye of quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield told the media that Trotter was ‘an animal’ and does not play like a rookie when asked to assess his performance.
Trotter has been given the rookie treatment of having to earn his way up the depth chart. However, with continued praise like this, it will be hard to keep him off the field when Week 1 rolls around.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield is Highly Impressed With Rookie Josiah Trotter
GettyJosiah Trotter #45 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Trotter has been impressing the team since they drafted him in the second round. He hit the ground running and caught the eye of Rick Stroud of the Bucs Collective. Stroud said that Trotter has been everything as advertised.
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“This is exactly what they hope they drafted,” said Stroud.
He took his impressive training camp and played impactful football in his preseason debut.
He played in just 15 snaps, with seven in run defense, seven in pass coverage, and one as a pass rusher. However, he was involved in three tackles and one run stop. PFF gave him a grade of 82.4, which is above average.
Analyst Jon Ledyard had strong praise for Trotter.
He plays with no hesitation. He’ll get got a few times figuring it out, but rather that than someone who can’t process fast enough. Explodes into the gap here to re-route the RB
“He plays with no hesitation,” tweeted Ledyard. “He’ll get got a few times figuring it out, but rather that than someone who can’t process fast enough.”
Trotter is in a crowded linebacker room but is quickly pushing to start.
Buccaneers Linebacker Room Got Crowded Quickly
The Bucs have four players competing for two spots on the primary defensive looks. The first job appears to be locked in by Alex Anzalone. Anzalone signed for two years and $17M overall. He started in 73 games over the past five seasons for the Lions and was held out with the starters in the preseason opener.
SirVocea Dennis was also held out, but his job appears to be much more in jeopardy. He started in 16 games for the Bucs last year, but they went out of their way to find an upgrade in both free agency and the draft. If Trotter continues to progress, Dennis will be the one who starts to lose snaps.
Dennis will be a free agent after this year, and the Bucs just drafted Trotter, so the switch will happen at some point. The only question is how soon Trotter makes it.
Christian Rozeboom is an underdiscussed name as well. He was a free-agent signing and started 17 games for the Carolina Panthers last season.
Still, he signed for league-minimum money and has been banged up in training camp. It is hard to see him pushing Dennis in the same way that Trotter is.
The starters will play in the preseason this week. It will be interesting to see how long Dennis gets in with the starters, and whether they bring in Trotter to split work with him or not.
If not, how much work does Trotter get behind him, and how does he look compared to the veteran starter?
Baker Mayfield Has Strong Words for Bucs Second-Round Rookie