Former Missouri Tigers linebacker Josiah Trotter was the fourth linebacker off the board in the 2026 NFL Draft. He went No. 46 overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, behind Arvell Reese (No. 5), Sonny Styles (No. 7) and Jacob Rodriguez (No. 43). Through two weeks of his debut NFL campaign, though, he has been the second-best rookie linebacker in football.
Thursday morning, Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuiness released the publication’s highest-graded rookies. Heading into Week 3, Trotter has the second highest grade of any rookie, behind only Dallas Cowboys third-round pick Jaishawn Barham. The scary part? He still has plenty of growing to do.
“Trotter had another strong game on Sunday, earning a 77.1 PFF grade in the loss to the Cleveland Browns,” McGuiness said. “He has recorded six tackles resulting in a defensive stop through the first two weeks of the season, but there is still room for improvement, as he has missed 15.0% of his tackle attempts so far this season.”
Trotter has posted double-digit combined tackles in both of his games. In Week 1, he had 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, a pass defended and a pick-six.
Despite the incredible production, Trotter is still looking for his first NFL win. He hopes to get it when the Buccaneers battle the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday (4:05 p.m. E.T., FOX).
