Josiah Trotter and Ted Hurst Are Already Forcing Their Way Into Roles for the Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-2 for the first time since 2014, and Todd Bowles’ seat isn’t getting any cooler. Bowles called his team “angrily optimistic” after Sunday’s 23-19 loss to the Cleveland Browns. If he’s looking for reasons to stay on the optimistic side, two rookies are giving him some, wide receiver Ted Hurst and linebacker Josiah Trotter.

Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice highlighted the rookies this week in a piece on rookies outperforming their draft slots. Both have landed real roles on a team that badly needs answers.

Josiah Trotter is making history early

Trotter, the No. 46 overall pick out of Missouri, didn’t wait long. He picked off Joe Burrow and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown in Week 1, and he added a sack to become the first player in NFL history with a pick-six and a sack in his debut. “It’s a play he blew from practice, he learned from it, and made a play from there,” Bowles said. Trotter had a point to prove, too. “I knew what I could do coming into the draft,” he said. He followed that up with 11 tackles against Cleveland, leading the team for the second straight week despite battling a sore shoulder.

Tice noted there “have been some botches in the Bucs’ defense overall,” but he believes Trotter’s “downhill style should fit well in Todd Bowles’ preferred chaos as he gets more comfortable.”

Ted Hurst has earned Baker Mayfield’s trust

Hurst’s path has been bumpier, but the opportunity is real. The third-round pick out of Georgia State played 48 of 65 offensive snaps in Week 2 and has five catches for 63 yards on 10 targets through two games. Tice pointed out that Hurst “has been thrust into a role early as the Bucs try to find an outside option.”

Two of Hurst’s targets came late against the Browns and fell incomplete, including one in the end zone on the final play. Baker Mayfield didn’t flinch. “Ted’s somebody that I trust. That’s not going to change anything for me going forward,” Mayfield said. The 2-0 Minnesota Vikings come to Tampa on Sunday, and both rookies will be in the middle of it again.