Draft-Week Buzz
No verified pre-draft news items in the past 30 days for this prospect. See Day 2/3 Team Fits below for projected landing spots and /news.html for the cross-prospect timeline.
Scouting Nugget: Trotter bloodline
Expanded bio coming soon. This prospect is Linebacker #4 in the 2026 class.
Scouting Profile
Combine / Pro Day Measurables (reported)
| 40-yard dash | 4.55 |
| Vertical jump (in) | 36.5 |
| Broad jump | 10'2" |
| Bench press (225 reps) | 20 reps |
| 3-cone drill | 6.92 |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.18 |
| Wingspan | 78.0" |
| Hand size | 10" |
Numbers compiled from NFL Scouting Combine results, Pro Day box scores, and beat-writer reports. "Reported" means cross-referenced against multiple sources; verify on nfl.com/combine for definitive marks.
College Career Stats
- 2022-23 West Virginia: 92 tackles combined as freshman + sophomore
- 2024 Missouri (Jr, transfer): 87 tackles, 8 TFL, 3 sacks, 2 INT
- 2025 Missouri (Sr): 102 tackles, 10 TFL, 4 sacks, 3 INT, 2 FF — 1st-team All-SEC
Strengths
- Son of Jeremiah Trotter Sr. — NFL bloodline + football IQ
- Three-down athlete — coverage + blitz + run defense all proven
- 4.55 speed at 230 — sideline-to-sideline range
- Vocal leader; defensive signal-caller at Missouri
Weaknesses / Areas to Develop
- Take-on strength vs pulling guards average
- Misses tackles in open space at a rate slightly above average
- Coverage vs elite TEs unproven at NFL pace
NFL Pro Comparison
Zaven Collins — rangy three-down LB with starter floor and Pro Bowl upside in coverage-heavy schemes
Mock-Draft Consensus
| ESPN (Jordan Reid) | PFF Big Board | Jeremiah Top 50 | Consensus Avg | Realistic Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #47 | #66 | — | #56.5 | Picks 30-60 |
30-day trend: Rising — Trotter bloodline
Ranks cross-referenced from ESPN's Jordan Reid top-500, PFF's 2026 Big Board top-200, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50 (NFL.com). Realistic draft-night range reflects projected team fit and trade scenarios, not just big-board placement.
Outcome Range
- Floor: Three-down LB starter
- Median: Pro Bowl LB — defensive captain role
- Ceiling: All-Pro in a cover-heavy scheme
Scheme Fit
Cover-3 / quarters base with blitz packages; Fangio / Macdonald / Spagnuolo systems
Pre-Draft Visits
Top-30 visits with the Philadelphia Eagles (family ties), Dallas Cowboys, and Chicago Bears
Signature College Game
2025 vs South Carolina: 15 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT — Mizzou's best defensive game of the year
Sources
Our scouting profile is assembled from these primary sources + cross-checked against ESPN (Kiper / Reid / Miller), PFF's 2026 Big Board, Dane Brugler's The Beast 2026, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50. See our full methodology and citations.
Day 2 / Day 3 Team Fits
NFL teams that lost a same-position veteran this offseason — and could target Josiah Trotter as a Day 2/3 replacement option.
- REPORTED New York Giants: moved on from Bobby Okereke (MIKE-LB).
Picks held: R1 #5; R2 #37 - REPORTED Cincinnati Bengals: moved on from Akeem Davis-Gaither (slot-LB).
Picks held: R1 #10; R2 #41 - REPORTED Chicago Bears: moved on from Tremaine Edmunds (MIKE-LB).
Picks held: R1 #25; R2 #57; R2 #60 via Buffalo
Confidence: "VERIFIED" departures cite a publication URL (Spotrac, OverTheCap, ESPN, NFL.com, team transactions page) confirming the move and date. "REPORTED" entries come from public free-agency trackers without a single canonical source we could attach. Fits are archetype-and-position based; we are not claiming the team has expressed interest in the prospect.
NFL Scheme Fit
NFL Scheme Fit
- Three-down MIKE in a quarters-coverage scheme
Detroit Lions · Philadelphia Eagles · Green Bay Packers
Scheme matches are bucketed from the prospect's height, weight, and (for WRs) archetype tag against a static lookup of which NFL teams currently run each scheme family.
Rookie Contract & Landing-Spot Outlook
Projected Rookie Contract Value
~$8.0M – $13.0M (4-year deal) · Pick range: #33-64 · ~85% guaranteed
Mid-pick band — guarantee % varies pick-to-pick
Best-Case / Worst-Case Landing Spot
Why: LB listed in their top-5 positional needs; runs a scheme that maximizes his profile.
Year-1 arc: Day-1 starter window with cap-controlled rookie-contract production.
Why: LB not in their stated top-5 needs; runs a scheme that doesn't naturally amplify his profile.
Year-1 arc: Depth-chart competition + special-teams reps as Year-1 baseline.
Contract band uses the 2026 NFL CBA rookie wage scale projected from the prospect's expected pick range; guarantee % is the slot-default at that pick. Landing-spot best/worst case is derived from TEAMS data (positional needs + scheme overlap minus same-position R1 conflicts) — not a claim that either team has expressed interest.
By the Numbers — 2026 Class Context
- Frame: Among 2026 LB prospects, his 6-2 / 230 lbs frame sits at the 73rd percentile in height and 69th percentile in weight.
- Position class: Josiah Trotter is LB #4 of 26 ranked LBs in the 2026 class. Of those, 3 are projected in the R2 range.
- School pipeline: Missouri has 2 LBs in the 2026 NFL Draft class (9 total prospects from the school).
Computed factually from the 2026 prospect class roster — height/weight percentiles benchmark this player against every other ranked prospect at the same position. Recruiting arc compares his high-school 247Sports/Rivals composite to his current projected round.
Josiah Trotter’s NFL Archetype: Fred Warner
Fred Warner (San Francisco 49ers)
Closest LB physical profile in the modern NFL: 6-2/230 lbs. Same frame, same role bucket — NOT a talent or career-arc projection.
Note: this is a physical-profile match — frame, position, role bucket. Not a talent or career-arc projection.
Similar Linebacker Prospects
Closest matches to Josiah Trotter (6-2 / 230 lbs, #4 LB) by ranking proximity and physical profile. SIZE MATCH = within 1″ height and 10 lbs; TIER MATCH = within 2 ranking spots.
- Anthony Hill Jr.SIZE MATCH Texas · 6-2/235 lbs · #5 LB · R2
- Jake GoldaySIZE MATCH Cincinnati · 6-2/230 lbs · #6 LB · R2-R3
- Jacob RodriguezSIZE MATCH Texas Tech · 6-1/240 lbs · #3 LB · R1-R2
- Deontae LawsonSIZE MATCH Alabama · 6-2/235 lbs · #8 LB · R3
- CJ AllenTIER MATCH Georgia · 6-0/230 lbs · #2 LB · R1 15-25
Missouri & The 2026 Class
More from Missouri
- Toriano Pride Jr. · CB #20 · R7-UDFA
- Stephen Hall · CB #29 · UDFA
- Zion Young · EDGE #9 · R2
- Keagen Trost · IOL #29 · UDFA
- Connor Tollison · IOL #30 · UDFA
Other R2 prospects in the 2026 class
Different positions, same projected draft tier as Josiah Trotter.
- Garrett Nussmeier · QB · LSU
- Jadarian Price · RB · Notre Dame
- KC Concepcion · WR · Texas A&M
- Chris Bell · WR · Louisville
- Germie Bernard · WR · Alabama
- Eli Stowers · TE · Vanderbilt