Jeremiah Trotter Jr. scouting report: Exploring the Clemson LB's strengths and weaknesses

The son of former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Sr., Junior was a top 50 overall recruit in the nation in 2021. He only played 59 snaps on defense plus another 58 on punt/kick coverage as a true freshman, but still recorded 22 tackles.

Starting all 14 games and then 12 the following two seasons, he put together nearly identical statistics, combining for 177 total tackles, 28.5 of those for loss, 12 sacks, three forced fumbles, 10 passes broken up and four interceptions, with two of those returned for touchdowns.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was named second-team All-American and first-team All-ACC in both of those.

Details: 6-foot-0, 230 pounds; JR

Breaking down Jeremiah Trotter Jr.'s scouting report

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. #54 of the Clemson Tigers intercepts the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Strengths

Run defense

• Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is an instinctive run-defender between the tackles with advanced knowledge for reading his keys and instantly reacting to them.
• Seems to have a great beat on what offenses have called up based on pre-snap tells.
• Finds the right balance between covering ground laterally but not overrunning zone concepts, and being able to fall back a gap as the RB commits.
• Proactive with punching and releasing from blocks, with plenty of shock in his hands, yet will also launch his pads into one-half of lead-blockers in order to minimize the extra gap offenses are trying to create.
• Regularly able to fight across the face of linemen or squeeze through creases, where most guys at his position would be walled off, ripping through the play-side shoulder and creating an angle towards the ball for himself.
• Quickly IDs pin-and-pull plus and will blow through the outside shoulder of guys trying to get out to the corner, in order to funnel the ball back inside to his teammates.
• Wraps and drives as a good form-tackler when he collides with ball-carriers in the hole.
• You rarely see backs squirt through or churn out any additional yardage when Trotter gets involved in stops around the line of scrimmage.

Coverage

• Active communicator in zone coverage, who has that awareness for targets in his vicinity that makes you think he has eyes at the back of his head of extended peripheral vision.
• Regularly floats underneath tight ends in the hook/seam area and at least disrupts the catch point – had a pick-six on a stick route vs. Notre Dame that way last season.
• Tracks the eyes of the quarterback and redirects forward once that guy starts scrambling to great effect.
• There’s zero delay from the ball leaving the quarterback’s hand and Trotter starting to pursue the intended target.
• Chooses excellent angles in order to not be outflanked by running backs out into the flats.
• Recognizes RPOs and how offenses want to affect the defense on play-action, getting his hands up in the passing lane after taking the initial steps up in his run read.
• Regularly makes sure to halt any yards after catch as he joins in on the tackle off underneath completions, at times banging dudes to the ground by emphatically lowering the shoulder on them.
• Held opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating of just 44.5 in 2022 and was charged with just one touchdown in coverage compared to four interceptions over the past two seasons.

Blitzing

• Was the only Power Five linebacker with an 80+ PFF grade in coverage and rushing the passer in 2022 – nearly repeated that last season.
• Packs the force to run through the back in protection if he has a head of steam.
• Savvy blitzer who can make over-aggressive protectors whiff, by knocking away their hands as they lunge for him, particularly sliding inside of them if they slightly overset.
• Valuable piece to your rush, whether you ask him to spike inside one shoulder of linemen to create displacement and free up his teammates or stick his foot in the ground or loop around the edge.
• Understands escape angles and is able to corral scrambling quarterbacks as a spy or add-on rusher, forcing them to redirect and run themselves into fellow defenders.
• Recorded 27 pressures on 105 pass-rush snaps this past year.
• You’re just not going to have any success throwing screens to the back when Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is matched up, instantly triggering on them and beating linemen to the spot before they can even locate him at times.

Weaknesses

• It might be playing next to Barrett Carter being a bolt of lightning, but Jeremiah Trotter Jr.’s speed out to the corner against outside runs is fairly average.
• Too often is just a step late to the ball, where other linebackers who make the same read would collect a PBU.
• Probably a limited player when it comes to being able to match up with any legit receiving threats for extended stretches – only spent 59 of 1431 career snaps outside the box.
• Missed a career-high 16.3% of his attempted tackles last season (15 of 92 tries), where his 31.5-inch arms limit his ability to wrap up ball-carriers on an angle.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr.'s 2024 NFL Draft projection

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. #54 of the Clemson Tigers tackles Christian Beal-Smith #8 of the South Carolina Gamecocks

The NFL bloodlines are apparent when you watch Jeremiah Trotter Jr. play, whether it’s his how he keys run concepts, the instincts as a zone-defender or how he gets through/around backs in protection.

Unfortunately, he did come in shorter and lighter than I expected at the combine, which makes you question if he can deal quite as well with blockers at the next level. That goes along with probably not looking great for a defensive scheme that asks him to follow pass catchers out into the slot and play man coverage.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is not going to win any beauty contests and make many splashy plays thanks to his athletic tools, but he’ll get to his spots on time based on his understanding of play development and he packs a punch when he arrives there.

A player he reminds me of – and someone I outlined as an undrafted free agent who would make an impact pretty early – is T.J. Edwards, who may also have some limitations but has been a rock-solid player for both the Eagles and Bears these last three years. If you understand what you can put on his plate, I’m fine with Trotter anywhere in the second round.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Grade: Late second round.

You might like other LB scout reports: Edgerrin Cooper; Tommy Eichenberg; Trevin Wallace; Nathaniel Watson; Jaylan Ford.