Well after the draft the Ravens now have Hendrickson, Robinson, Green, and Young. Trading for Crosby may have limited what they could do with the draft. They invested high picks in Green and Young along with Robinson so I am sure they want to give these guys reps while Hendrickson does his work.
The other suitors were the Bengals themselves having Murphy and signed Mafe in the off season. But they still ended up with C. Howell and have Shemar Stewart as reserves.
The Cowboys have Rashan Gary, Houston and Ezeiruaku (if he can come back 100%) and they drafted M. Lawrence in round 1.
Goes to show you that trading a 1 for an edge rusher is a huge roll of the dice. The Packers edge depth chart looks like this: Parsons, Van Ness, Sorrell, and Dennis-Sutton was drafted in the 4th.
The Raiders are holding onto Crosby also have Koonce, Snowden, and Paye. They also drafted Crawford in round 3.
We got Bain. Couldn't have worked out any better.
Well after the draft the Ravens now have Hendrickson, Robinson, Green, and Young. Trading for Crosby may have limited what they could do with the draft. They invested high picks in Green and Young along with Robinson so I am sure they want to give these guys reps while Hendrickson does his work.
The other suitors were the Bengals themselves having Murphy and signed Mafe in the off season. But they still ended up with C. Howell and have Shemar Stewart as reserves.
The Cowboys have Rashan Gary, Houston and Ezeiruaku (if he can come back 100%) and they drafted M. Lawrence in round 1.
Goes to show you that trading a 1 for an edge rusher is a huge roll of the dice. The Packers edge depth chart looks like this: Parsons, Van Ness, Sorrell, and Dennis-Sutton was drafted in the 4th.
The Raiders are holding onto Crosby also have Koonce, Snowden, and Paye. They also drafted Crawford in round 3.
We got Bain. Couldn't have worked out any better.
Yup.
Still can’t believe he was there at 15.
Wild.
We missed J-Rod by 3 picks. This would've been a home run A+ draft if they draft him via trade up.@biggs3535 - don’t get me wrong, I like Rodriguez, but I like his value in the 3rd or 4th round. Some on PR are saying maybe we should trade back into the bottom half of the first and grab. That is horrible value. And having Rodriguez and Anzalone is like having two Will LBs. We need a true MLB.
Prior to the offseason, I would have agreed that he was a 3rd/4th as I had questions about his athleticism. But he had a great Senior Bowl and did very well at the combine, having the 4th highest athleticism score amongst all Linebackers - to go along with his excellent game tape. He aced his job interview this offseason. He made him some money and shot his draft projection up a lot of people's boards.
I'm not sure he's a late-first, but I would be surprised if he lasted the until the 3rd round at this point.
With the 11th pick in R2, Jacob Rodriguez ending up being the second ILB drafted, after Sonny Styles @ #7. He was followed by Trotter, Golday, CJ Allen, & Anthony Hill Jr. - all in the second round.
7th overall - Sunny Styles
43rd overall - Jeremiah Trotter
51st overall - Jake Golday
53rd overall - CJ Allen
60th overall - Anthony Hill Jr.
It will be very interesting to see how these guys pan out as pros, as almost everybody had Trotter below all of Allen, Hill, & Golday.
These needed correcting, as I skipped Rodriguez with a brain fart:
7th overall - Sunny Styles
43rd overall - Jacob Rodriguez
46th overall - Jeremiah Trotter
51st overall - Jake Golday
53rd overall - CJ Allen
60th overall - Anthony Hill Jr.
Drafting players who are 2 down players in the second round is idiotic use of draft cap. I think Trotter will be good against the run but when we have to cover Bijan Robinson out the back field I don't to see fans upset. This coach continues to hand pick the wrong players. We got lucky with Bain so I'm not going to give him credit for that.
I thought AHJ should've been the pick because he can play in space and has more coverage chops. Bowles clearly doesn't know how to evaluate backers properly just look at his track record..
Devin White, Britt, Dennis ..
Well after the draft the Ravens now have Hendrickson, Robinson, Green, and Young. Trading for Crosby may have limited what they could do with the draft. They invested high picks in Green and Young along with Robinson so I am sure they want to give these guys reps while Hendrickson does his work.
The other suitors were the Bengals themselves having Murphy and signed Mafe in the off season. But they still ended up with C. Howell and have Shemar Stewart as reserves.
The Cowboys have Rashan Gary, Houston and Ezeiruaku (if he can come back 100%) and they drafted M. Lawrence in round 1.
Goes to show you that trading a 1 for an edge rusher is a huge roll of the dice. The Packers edge depth chart looks like this: Parsons, Van Ness, Sorrell, and Dennis-Sutton was drafted in the 4th.
The Raiders are holding onto Crosby also have Koonce, Snowden, and Paye. They also drafted Crawford in round 3.
We got Bain. Couldn't have worked out any better.
In Licht's mind the Bucs will have Bain and Walker to team with Diaby and Muhammed so that is a 75% change of the top four and with Nelson as the reserve.
I thought AHJ should've been the pick because he can play in space and has more coverage chops. Bowles clearly doesn't know how to evaluate backers properly just look at his track record..
I'm with you. He was my draft crush following last year's draft. But he had a down year, as did all of Texas, and I have no idea why. That's is something that I would have liked him to address in the meetings - because he was an absolute monster during the 2024 season. Dude was a beast in coverage, blitzing, everything during that season. He looked a top-10 pick in this draft after the 2024 season. But he went closer to the end of R2.
I would have been amped with Bain and Hill as the first two picks.
Well after the draft the Ravens now have Hendrickson, Robinson, Green, and Young. Trading for Crosby may have limited what they could do with the draft. They invested high picks in Green and Young along with Robinson so I am sure they want to give these guys reps while Hendrickson does his work.
The other suitors were the Bengals themselves having Murphy and signed Mafe in the off season. But they still ended up with C. Howell and have Shemar Stewart as reserves.
The Cowboys have Rashan Gary, Houston and Ezeiruaku (if he can come back 100%) and they drafted M. Lawrence in round 1.
Goes to show you that trading a 1 for an edge rusher is a huge roll of the dice. The Packers edge depth chart looks like this: Parsons, Van Ness, Sorrell, and Dennis-Sutton was drafted in the 4th.
The Raiders are holding onto Crosby also have Koonce, Snowden, and Paye. They also drafted Crawford in round 3.
We got Bain. Couldn't have worked out any better.
In Licht's mind the Bucs will have Bain and Walker to team with Diaby and Muhammed so that is a 75% change of the top four and with Nelson as the reserve.
And potentially Trotter as a blitzing LB and Scott as yet another blitzer/multiple guy from the Nickel or safety
I wouldn't factor in Trotter's blitzing as a new dimension so much because Dennis can play downhill too. To me Trotter's value is that he understands to protect the boundary, make the pre snap reads, stack and shed and make textbook wrap around the leg tackles with both hands. Rozeboom and Anzalone are in the same mold of no nonsese by the book fundamental football technique and leverage as backers. That is why I think people are over stating Trotter's ability to attack and edge or rush are doing a great disservice from pointing out how he isn't another Britt or White. Trotter is definitely very Hard Nickerson/Shelton Quarles with the way he approaches football which is very old school.
The same with Scott as the Bucs have guys that can blitz in Winfield, Smith and Parrish from NCB. But the drafting of Scott means they can free up and having Winfield or Smith play some NCB to really bring heat and let Scott play centerfield or have Parrish play more boundary.
I think the key is that blitzing really is a double edged sword and does not work when it is 3rd and 2 because play action or even a simple draw from the opposite side of the pressure can negate it very easily. The whole point of 3rd and long is for blitzing to stop 9 step drops or your front four or five to get there without needing to bliz. So from the Bucs point of view stopping the run is priority #1.
I think the key is that blitzing really is a double edged sword and does not work when it is 3rd and 2 because play action or even a simple draw from the opposite side of the pressure can negate it very easily. The whole point of 3rd and long is for blitzing to stop 9 step drops or your front four or five to get there without needing to bliz. So from the Bucs point of view stopping the run is priority #1.
I dont think anyone disagrees with that. Its 100% Bowles and one reason they have gone bigger and meaner and also (in my view) why they would choose a downhill LBer.
The most effective Bowles defense has the defense in the backfield all the time (ie playing downhill), not just passing downs.
Trotter is a run stopper and downhill LBer. Let start with run stopping
In 2025 the Bucs defense was good at keeping teams out of the red zone (top 5 in RZ attempts allowed), but absolutely the worst (#32) in red zone scoring percentage allowed. So, in 2025 if you got to the red zone on the Bucs you mostly scored a TD.
In 2023 when the Bucs defense is top 10 in scoring defense they let team into the RZ more than 2025, but they stopped them. They were TOP 5 in red zone scoring percentage allowed.
Why the complete reversal?
Couple reasons, but a big one is teams pushing Bucs around in the run game. The Bucs were unable to make opposing teams one dimensional in the red zone and especially bad at 1st and goal. This is why Bowles wanted to get the Bucs bigger and probably why he wanted a downhill LBer.
Let go to DOWNHILL
In 2023 (Bucs top 10 scoring defense) LVD is top 10 in TFL (18) while also throwing in 4.5 sacks. In 2025 hes not even in the TFL stats (i think 8?). SVD had 10 and Diaby 14, but to give that some context that relates to Trotter adnd Bowles wanting the defense to be DOWNHILL on all downs .. . . . in 2020 White is top 5 in TFL (18) while also having 9 sacks and with LVD also having 14 TFL and Barrett having 14 and JPP having 12. We were in opponents backfield relentlessly.
Bain had many TFLs including some big ones on the playoffs. They seem to see Trotter as like White in terms of his ability to disrupt. They might be wrong. I agree they also see him like Quarles (physical) so not down playing that. Just saying that "do or die" Bowles is trying to have a downhill defense on all downs. Thats what was missing in 2025, imposing will.
Just saying that "do or die" Bowles is trying to have a downhill defense on all downs.
they just exercised 5th year for Kancey. Bowles extension loading? ;-)
Quoted for truth.We missed J-Rod by 3 picks. This would've been a home run A+ draft if they draft him via trade up.@biggs3535 - don’t get me wrong, I like Rodriguez, but I like his value in the 3rd or 4th round. Some on PR are saying maybe we should trade back into the bottom half of the first and grab. That is horrible value. And having Rodriguez and Anzalone is like having two Will LBs. We need a true MLB.
Prior to the offseason, I would have agreed that he was a 3rd/4th as I had questions about his athleticism. But he had a great Senior Bowl and did very well at the combine, having the 4th highest athleticism score amongst all Linebackers - to go along with his excellent game tape. He aced his job interview this offseason. He made him some money and shot his draft projection up a lot of people's boards.
I'm not sure he's a late-first, but I would be surprised if he lasted the until the 3rd round at this point.
With the 11th pick in R2, Jacob Rodriguez ending up being the second ILB drafted, after Sonny Styles @ #7. He was followed by Trotter, Golday, CJ Allen, & Anthony Hill Jr. - all in the second round.
7th overall - Sunny Styles
43rd overall - Jeremiah Trotter
51st overall - Jake Golday
53rd overall - CJ Allen
60th overall - Anthony Hill Jr.
It will be very interesting to see how these guys pan out as pros, as almost everybody had Trotter below all of Allen, Hill, & Golday.
These needed correcting, as I skipped Rodriguez with a brain fart:
7th overall - Sunny Styles
43rd overall - Jacob Rodriguez
46th overall - Jeremiah Trotter
51st overall - Jake Golday
53rd overall - CJ Allen
60th overall - Anthony Hill Jr.
Drafting players who are 2 down players in the second round is idiotic use of draft cap. I think Trotter will be good against the run but when we have to cover Bijan Robinson out the back field I don't to see fans upset. This coach continues to hand pick the wrong players. We got lucky with Bain so I'm not going to give him credit for that.
I thought AHJ should've been the pick because he can play in space and has more coverage chops. Bowles clearly doesn't know how to evaluate backers properly just look at his track record..
Devin White, Britt, Dennis ..
All good points and factual. However, this team is going to get taken to school on RB passes out of the backfield sideline to sideline. If the Falclowns cannot expose this with Bijan Robinson twice in the coming year, I will be absolutely shocked. The Bucs don't have a LB to contend with that - at least not one that I can see. They needed a LB or two that could play coverage. Whether they got them in FA or the draft isn't relevant as long as they addressed the problem. They got none and didn't in my opinion. Anzalone will be serviceable but he isn't hanging with guys like Robinson.I think the key is that blitzing really is a double edged sword and does not work when it is 3rd and 2 because play action or even a simple draw from the opposite side of the pressure can negate it very easily. The whole point of 3rd and long is for blitzing to stop 9 step drops or your front four or five to get there without needing to bliz. So from the Bucs point of view stopping the run is priority #1.
I dont think anyone disagrees with that. Its 100% Bowles and one reason they have gone bigger and meaner and also (in my view) why they would choose a downhill LBer.
The most effective Bowles defense has the defense in the backfield all the time (ie playing downhill), not just passing downs.
Trotter is a run stopper and downhill LBer. Let start with run stopping
In 2025 the Bucs defense was good at keeping teams out of the red zone (top 5 in RZ attempts allowed), but absolutely the worst (#32) in red zone scoring percentage allowed. So, in 2025 if you got to the red zone on the Bucs you mostly scored a TD.
In 2023 when the Bucs defense is top 10 in scoring defense they let team into the RZ more than 2025, but they stopped them. They were TOP 5 in red zone scoring percentage allowed.
Why the complete reversal?
Couple reasons, but a big one is teams pushing Bucs around in the run game. The Bucs were unable to make opposing teams one dimensional in the red zone and especially bad at 1st and goal. This is why Bowles wanted to get the Bucs bigger and probably why he wanted a downhill LBer.
Let go to DOWNHILL
In 2023 (Bucs top 10 scoring defense) LVD is top 10 in TFL (18) while also throwing in 4.5 sacks. In 2025 hes not even in the TFL stats (i think 8?). SVD had 10 and Diaby 14, but to give that some context that relates to Trotter adnd Bowles wanting the defense to be DOWNHILL on all downs .. . . . in 2020 White is top 5 in TFL (18) while also having 9 sacks and with LVD also having 14 TFL and Barrett having 14 and JPP having 12. We were in opponents backfield relentlessly.
Bain had many TFLs including some big ones on the playoffs. They seem to see Trotter as like White in terms of his ability to disrupt. They might be wrong. I agree they also see him like Quarles (physical) so not down playing that. Just saying that "do or die" Bowles is trying to have a downhill defense on all downs. Thats what was missing in 2025, imposing will.
Hahaha. I can hear it in the press conference now.I think Trotter will be good against the run but when we have to cover Bijan Robinson out the back field I don't to see fans upset.
"That's what Bain was drafted for."
- Todd Bowles