PFF says Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is 'poised to break the mold' |
Pro Football Focus identified some of the undersized prospects their respective positions who
are poised to break the mold, and that includes a former star Clemson linebacker.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. earned All-American honors in back-to-back seasons, earning a finalist status for the Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker this past season. "Jeremiah Trotter Sr. was a tank of a linebacker back in the late 90s/early 2000s. At 6-foot-1, he was listed at a massive 262 pounds and became an All-Pro particularly adept as a downhill thumper in an era where that was everything. His son, Jeremiah Trotter Jr., is only an inch shorter but weighed just 228 pounds at the combine as a far smaller player than his dad. Trotter has been an outstanding college prospect but now needs to show those NFL bloodlines translate to the next level without the size. The game has evolved to smaller, faster bodies over the past 20 years, and Trotter has 89.7 and 82.0 PFF coverage grades over his last two seasons at Clemson," said PFF's Sam Monson. Trotter finished his Clemson career credited with 202 tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, 13 pass breakups, three forced fumbles and four interceptions (including two returned for touchdowns) in 1,413 snaps over 39 career games (26 starts) from 2021-23. He became Clemson’s first multi-time All-American at linebacker since Keith Adams in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Trotter exited Clemson as one of only 14 FBS players in the last 20 seasons to record 10+ sacks, 4+ interceptions, 3+ forced fumbles and multiple pick-sixes; he was one of four (UCLA’s Akeem Ayers, Missouri’s Sean Weatherspoon and Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh) to accomplish the feat in a Power Five conference.
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