Mizzou's Trotter Selected in NFL Draft, Third LB Taken in Top 100 Under Drinkwitz

Drinkwitz is starting a trend of sending inside linebackers to the NFL early in the draft.

Missouri Tigers linebacker Josiah Trotter (40) celebrates a defensive stop as Auburn Tigers take on Missouri Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Missouri Tigers defeated the Auburn Tigers 23-17 in 2OT. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Missouri Tigers linebacker Josiah Trotter was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 46th pick of the second round in the 2026 NFL Draft. With the selection, Trotter is the third linebacker taken in the first three rounds of the draft since Eli Drinkwitz has taken the helm of the Missouri program.

Trotter spent only one season with Drinkwitz and the Tigers, but he saw his draft stock flourish throughout it. He finished his sophomore season with 84 tackles, two sacks and a pass deflection while also showing his impressive range and physicality on tape. He was viewed as a consensus top-100 draft pick in this year's class.

The Philadelphia native now joins Nick Bolton and Ty'Ron Hopper as former Missouri linebackers to be selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft under Drinkwitz. Bolton was selected in the second round at pick No. 58 by the Kansas City Chiefs, a location he's found success in since his rookie season. Hopper was picked No. 91 overall in the third round by the Green Bay Packers in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Bolton will play his sixth season for the Chiefs in 2026, having won two Super Bowls in the process. He's logged 612 total career tackles up until that point, along with six sacks, five interceptions and 21 pass deflections.

For Missouri, he logged 217 career tackles, four sacks, two interceptions and 13 pass deflections. Bolton was a second-team All-American in 2020 and he also made two first-team All-SEC squads.

Hopper played his first three college seasons at Florida before making the move to Columbia and playing under Drinkwitz. He logged 129 tackles during his two seasons with the Tigers, along with six sacks, one interception and five pass deflections. During his two NFL seasons, he's recorded 34 total tackles and a forced fumble. Hopper has struggled with injuries during his time in the NFL.

The linebacker position may not be one that automatically comes to mind when you think of player development under Drinkwitz, but he's sneakily put some good ones into the NFL. Though Bolton wasn't entirely a product of Drinkwitz's coaching, he did help in his final year.

Next up in the linebacker room for Missouri is Nicholas Rodriguez and Robert Woodyard Jr., a transfer from Auburn. Both will be draft-eligible next year and may have a chance of hearing their names called. If that does happen, Drinkwitz's reputation for developing inside linebackers, along with the rest of Missouri's coaching staff, would only be heightened.