The Tampa Bay Buccaneers let the board fall their way to land Rueben Bain Jr. in Round 1, and on night two, they kicked things off by landing another playmaker.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected linebacker Josiah Trotter out of Missouri with the 48th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Trotter enters the NFL at the age of 21 after seeing his brother go into the league last year out of Clemson. He also follows in his father's footsteps, as he is the youngest son of former Philadelphia Eagles Pro Bowl linebacker Jeremiah Trotter.
At Missouri, Trotter was a thumper-type of linebacker who had good range and an aggressive playmaking mentality. Coming to the Bucs, the team will be looking to help newly signed Alex Anzalone as they patrol the middle of the defense in their revamped linebacker room following the retirement of Lavonte David.
Hall of Famer Rondé Barber welcomes Josiah Trotter to the Buccaneers 🗣️📺: #NFLDraft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/XMK9nrLSaQ
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) April 25, 2026
The Bucs focused on defense through their first two picks after seeing what they suffered through from that side of the ball to end the year.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: The Bucs find their succesor to Lavonte David in Josiah Trotter