Jeremiah Trotter Jr., LB, Clemson (Junior)
Rayane M
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Strengths :
- Very good play recognition
- Age
- Good first step
- Solid zone coverage
- Good athletic abilities
- Dangerous on blitz
- Good Leverage and determination on running plays
- Hard hitter
- Good pursuit
Weaknesses :
- Pursuit angles
- Beware of excess aggression in gap attacks
- Jams need work
- Doesn't trust himself enough
- Poor technique in separating from blocks
- Average tackling technique
LB Jeremiah Trotter
— Rayane M (@RayaneScout) December 29, 2023
Very young, fast and explosive, but also able to read the game very well, Jeremiah seems to be an obvious choice for the Inside LB position.
Trotter's ceiling is very high, especially as the areas for improvement are visible.
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Let's say it straight away, Jeremiah is a good player, very good even. While I enjoy teasing Clemson fans about their program, it doesn't prevent me from acknowledging when they produce good players, and clearly, Trotter is one of them.
To start listing his strengths, Jeremiah has a very good football IQ, which is absolutely crucial for aspiring to a starting ILB position in the NFL. Just because of that, I believe he could start playing quite quickly. As of now, I haven't seen a prospect with better football IQ than Jeremiah among the ten or so LBs I've observed.
With this excellent football IQ, he exhibits an aggressive and explosive first step of reading. He reads quickly and with few errors, managing to do so on the move to limit the space given to the opposing offense. Once he reads the play, he descends rapidly to the ball, which I really like.
Next, we have his age. At 21 years old at the time of the draft, Jeremiah is very young and still has room to improve on many aspects, which sets a very high ceiling for him. Moreover, considering his current level of play, it's easy to imagine him seeing the field early in his career. All in all, very promising.
As for Jeremiah's coverage ability, it's promising without being exceptional. His zone coverage reads are correct, even quite solid on some reps but I find that sometimes he sit (sits his zone read by stopping as no threat presents itself) a bit too flat.
He will, I believe, need to work on taking his zones with a bit more depth once in the pros where QBs don't hesitate to threaten the interzones between LBs and DBs as they have the talent and arm to make those kinds of throws.
On this point, I'm not too worried; it can be worked on in practice, and we don't know how he was instructed to take his zones in Clemson's defensive system.
On this point, I'm not too worried; it can be worked on in practice, and we don't know how he was instructed to take his zones in Clemson's defensive system.
Furthermore, Jeremiah has good athletic abilities for an ILB, whether it's his overall speed, explosiveness, strength, or even a good vertical leap. He has a complete athletic profile, further reinforcing the fact that he has real potential to play Mike LB in the NFL.
Another interesting point about Trotter is his ability to be really dangerous on blitzes, especially thanks to his explosive first step but also due to good upper body flexibility which allows him to execute very nice Rip move with a Bend that is really surprising for his size and position.
To complement this surprisingly effective blitzing ability, Jeremiah plays with a low center of gravity, which allows him to really disrupt opposing blockers and thanks to his LeverageAnd with good strength and explosiveness, he's able to effectively battle with the offensive line to shed blocks in the box, which is a positive aspect of his game.
To complement this surprisingly effective blitzing ability, Jeremiah plays with a low center of gravity, which allows him to really disrupt opposing blockers and thanks to his LeverageAnd with good strength and explosiveness, he's able to effectively battle with the offensive line to shed blocks in the box, which is a positive aspect of his game.
Another point that should interest many, especially when it comes to the linebacker position, is that Jeremiah is a heavy hitter when it comes to tackling. When he hits, he hits hard. Whether his target is the ball carrier or a blocker in his path for various reasons, Trotter doesn't hold back when he decides to go for it, and personally, I like to see that from linebackers.
Finally, Trotter's ability to pursue on long plays is quite good because Jeremiah is quite willing and won't hesitate to make those pursuits. However, be cautious about the few times I've seen him not running at maximum speed to tackle the ball carrier because he felt there were enough teammates around to secure the tackle.
Clemson notably conceded a touchdown like that against North Carolina, where Trotter could have tackled the ball carrier if he had pursued at full speed right away.
Now that we've discussed the points that might convince you to select Jeremiah Trotter next April, it's time to look at what, on the contrary, might hold you back from buying into the Trotter hype.
For example, the first major downside in Jeremiah's game is his pursuit angles, which clearly need work. He will need to work on them because Trotter tends to sometimes overestimate his speed and thus not take the best pursuit angles, which can quickly lead to giving up extra yards to opposing ball carriers who take advantage of his poor angles to gain additional yards that they otherwise wouldn't have been able to get if a better angle had been taken.
This is particularly evident on plays where the ball carrier manages to get to the outside of Jeremiah, or on man-to-man coverage where Trotter is responsible for the running back and the ball is given quickly. During this time when the ball is in flight, Jeremiah tends to run too flat (in a straight line rather than adjusting his run to the speed of the ball carrier to avoid being caught) giving the ball carrier the opportunity to take the edge and beat him for speed once they have the ball. With better pursuit and a better initial angle, Jeremiah wouldn't be in as much trouble.
This is particularly evident on plays where the ball carrier manages to get to the outside of Jeremiah, or on man-to-man coverage where Trotter is responsible for the running back and the ball is given quickly. During this time when the ball is in flight, Jeremiah tends to run too flat (in a straight line rather than adjusting his run to the speed of the ball carrier to avoid being caught) giving the ball carrier the opportunity to take the edge and beat him for speed once they have the ball. With better pursuit and a better initial angle, Jeremiah wouldn't be in as much trouble.
Still on his pursuit angles, Trotter needs to make sure he doesn't find himself too often in Overpursuit (être en Overpursuit . In contrast to what I mentioned above, when the action happens in the box rather than out wide, it's not uncommon to see Jeremiah be in Overpursuit due to his aggressive nature and explosive first step, which causes him to arrive slightly too early on the ball carrier, giving the opponent the opportunity to try a Cut to get rid of Jeremiah. So, there's a lot of work to be done on his pursuit angles and angles in general, despite the fact that long pursuits are listed as a strength just above.
Small point to watch with Trotter when he's defending the run is his excess aggressiveness when he steps into his gap responsibility. He really likes to dive in to discourage the ball carrier from diving into his gap, and similarly, Jeremiah also likes to do that to try to disrupt a Lead block when there is one (a Lead blocker He's a player who precedes the ball carrier and runs into the same hole as him to create an additional blocker. The problem I have with this tendency is that when he dives, he completely takes himself out of the play, so it's hit or miss. If he catches the carrier perfectly, he manages to stop the opponent's advance at the line of scrimmage, but if he catches one Lead blocker, it's okay because he blows up the blocker and forces the play to bounce outside, but if he misses, he ends up on the ground or tangled in traffic and becomes useless.
On his ability to cover, it needs to pay attention on his Jams (punching a player running his route to disrupt his path and timing with the QB), this is especially the case during his zone coverages where Jeremiah tries to keep his eyes on the QB but tends to not watch where he punches, which can lead to Jams completely missed either because the receiver swats his hands away before being touched or because Jeremiah ends up wrapping around the receiver, which is a foul.
Point that is currently listed among his weaknesses but could potentially become Jeremiah's number one strength in a few years is his instinct. He doesn't trust himself enough at all, yet he has a good instinct, which is evident in his tapes.
Whether it's in his first steps, the way he reads the game, or even where he positions his eyes when in coverage, Jeremiah sometimes seems poised to make an incredible play, but we often see him hesitate for a split second, and this tiny hesitation sometimes prevents him from making game-changing plays. This is even more noticeable when he's in coverage. If he encounters a coach capable of making him aware of this, Jeremiah could become a special player.
I also noticed a real lack of variety in his ways of shedding blocks from opponents; he relies, in my opinion, a little too much on the Spin move to shed the block from offensive linemen coming at him. What bothers me is especially when he fails to disengage from the block by doing his SpinIf he fails to do so, he often ends up being taken to the ground and thus completely removed from the play. What's even more unfortunate is that he sometimes shows on tape that he seems to have the physical power, leverage, and balance to take on blocks head-on and fight to shed the block or disrupt the play, which is clearly not the case for all LBs at the time of their draft.
That's another area where I see Jeremiah being able to improve with more consistent coaching, especially in this specific game situation.
Finally, I've noticed that he could work on his tackling technique, which isn't really extraordinary. He sometimes struggles against certain larger Power-backs especially because he has the annoying tendency to stop his legs at the moment of the tackle, whereas the Power-backs don't stop their legs since they have made this specific point the center of their game.
This will be a point to work on necessarily because once again, the sizes and powers of Power-backs NFL he may face will not be of the same level as those he encountered in college football.
Jeremiah Trotter therefore emerges as a prospect who could have a lot of potential.
He already has in his favor the fact that he has evolved in a defense that almost exclusively plays in Nickel package, whether it be in a 4-2 or a 3-3-5, which puts him in the best configuration to secure a place in any current NFL defensive system. While I believe that ultimately he would be most interesting as a Mike LB, the system in which he played at Clemson (and which is becoming more and more prevalent in college football in Nickel Package defenses) means that he will need some time to adapt in the NFL before being able to assume that role. Therefore, we may initially see him in an OLB role in a 4-3 or as the Buck LB (the second inside LB in a Nickel defense, often relieved of play-calling duties) in a 4-2.
In any case, given his age and the flashes of talent he shows in several aspects of his game, whether it's against the run, in coverage, blitzing, or pass coverage, there's no harm in seeing him go as early as the second round of the upcoming draft. I wouldn't even be surprised if a team with a need at LB decides to pick him up late in the first round, especially if there's a buzz following a strong Combine or Pro Day performance from him.
Personally it's a no-brainer to pick him starting at the 2nd round for any team looking for his future LB.
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