Mizzou’s ‘Axe Man’ is following in his family’s footsteps as an NFL Draft pick.Missouri football middle linebacker Josiah Trotter is officially heading to the league after the Buccaneers used the 46th-overall pick to bring him to Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Friday, April 24, in Pittsburgh.
He is the second Mizzou player drafted to the NFL this season, coming off the board exactly one pick after Zion Young went No. 45 overall to the Baltimore Ravens.
Trotter is also the third member of his family to hear their name called in the NFL Draft. Jeremiah Trotter Sr., who is Josiah Trotter’s father, was a third-round pick in 1998. Jeremiah Trotter Jr., who is the Mizzou linebacker’s older brother, was a fifth round pick by the Eagles in 2024.
Josiah Trotter spent one year with Mizzou after transferring to the Tigers from West Virginia, where he spent the first two years of his college career. The linebacker led Mizzou in tackling in 2025 and declared early for the draft process, leaving college after his redshirt sophomore season.
Here is what you need to know about former Missouri middle linebacker and second round draft pick Josiah Trotter:
Trotter was, by quite some margin, Mizzou’s leading tackler with 84 stops in 12 games last season, working out to seven tackles per appearance. He led Missouri’s second level with 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including two sacks.
He’s a force working downhill and showed good tracking speed and awareness to get horizontal when necessary.
Trotter was strong against the run in the college game and was able to impact the quarterback when asked with well-timed blitzes.
His main talent is his strength and physicality, though. He’s a thumper.
Trotter (No. 40 for Mizzou) was among the most-consistent players on the Mizzou roster in 2025.
His best game, however, was almost certainly in an October road win at Auburn. Keep an eye on No. 40. He hurdled a blocker for what proved to be the game-icing play.
Missouri LB Josiah Trotter (#40) was a man possessed versus Auburn this year. -Serious shock in his hands but also knows when to reduce his surface area-Downhill plugger with legit stopping power into engagements-Creative pass rusher (see hurdle @ 1:10 mark)That'll play. pic.twitter.com/aswpWGfLTD
Josiah Trotter is a violent, attacking downhill LB prospect who will make an immediate impact as a run defender and blitzerTop 50 player on my board pic.twitter.com/8zD1RGlNCw
Trotter did not take part in most of the measurable testing in Indianapolis. He sustained what Mizzou called a “minor knee injury” that caused him to also miss the Tigers’ bowl game in December.
He did, however, set the best mark for linebackers at the combine with 27 reps in the bench press. That was two more than the second-best linebacker in Indianapolis.
We will update this information in accordance with the USA Today Sports draft tracker.
We will update this information in accordance with the USA Today Sports draft tracker.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Josiah Trotter draft: Bucs pick Missouri LB in NFL draft second round