Josiah Trotter Jr. entered the season with plenty of expectations after earning a starting job in the Buccaneers' defense, and it took just one game for him to find himself among some of the NFL's best-performing rookies. Through Sunday's Week 1 games, Trotter owns the fifth-highest defensive grade among all rookies, according to PFF.
The Bucs linebacker earned a 72.8 defensive grade in his debut against the Cincinnati Bengals, trailing only Anthony Hill Jr. (78.7), Genesis Smith (77.5), Gabe Jacas (77.3), and Jaishawn Barham (75.9). It's an impressive place for Trotter to find himself after his first NFL game, especially considering how much Tampa Bay asked him to handle immediately. Trotter played 58 of the Bucs' 64 defensive snaps and finished
with a game-high 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and an interception returned for 38 yards for a touchdown.
Trotter was active around the line of scrimmage against the run, got home against Joe Burrow for Tampa Bay's only sack, and made one of the biggest defensive plays of the game when he dropped into coverage and jumped a pass intended for Andrei Iosivas. He returned the interception for a touchdown as Tampa Bay attempted to erase Cincinnati's second-half lead. The performance also made some history, with Trotter becoming the first player since sacks became an official statistic in 1982 to record both a sack and a pick-six in his NFL debut.
Tampa Bay made Trotter a starter coming out of training camp and gave him a workload that looked much more like that of an established player than a rookie making his debut. He was on the field for more than 90 percent of the defensive snaps against an experienced Cincinnati offense led by one of the best QBs in the league, Joe Burrow. There will be plenty more to evaluate as the season goes along, but Trotter couldn't have asked for a much better start, especially when it comes to the doubts about his coverage ability and looking like the best defender on the field.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Josiah Trotter earns top-5 rookie grade week 1
