Josiah Trotter has Historic Debut in Buccaneers Loss

Rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter had a historic debut for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Unfortunately, Trotter's tremendous performance came in a Tampa loss. Three lost fumbles by quarterback Baker Mayfield doomed the Bucs in their 33-27 road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

While the turnovers dug the Bucs a hole they couldn't crawl out of, Trotter was a monster for Tampa's defense.

Greg Auman of Fox Sports reported that Trotter became the first player in NFL history with both a pick-six and a sack in his debut.

Just for good measure, Trotter also threw in 11 tackles, a pair of TFLs, and even broke up a pass. Not too shabby.

The game against the Bengals meant the long wait for the most-anticipated debut by a Bucs rookie in a long time was finally over.

First-round pick Rueben Bain Jr., who has looked like a superstar since coming to town, was supposed to be the Tampa rookie who dominated on Sunday. Instead, the star edge rusher from Miami showed up on the stat sheet with just one tackle.

Not the debut from Bain that many expected, though it's possible nothing he could have done against the Bengals would have matched the hype and expectations he's earned for himself this offseason.

Instead, it was Trotter who stole the show for Tampa's defense. If not for his Herculean effort, who knows how much worse this loss could have been?

The rookie inside linebacker was drafted in the second round and didn't come with nearly the same attention Bain did. Even though the Bucs also had high expectations for Trotter , he spent the offseason being overshadowed by Bain, no matter how well he had been playing.

After Sunday's performance, Trotter will no longer be overshadowed. Not by Bain or anybody else on Tampa's defense.

Although Bain entered the season as the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year , he may receive some unexpected competition to be the best rookie on his own team.

Sunday was a remarkable debut from Trotter. He was the best player on the field for the Bucs all afternoon. It's a shame that his performance didn't lead to a victory.

Next week, Trotter and the Bucs take on the Cleveland Browns . After seeing how the Browns looked in their 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Trotter must be licking his chops.

What will the rookie have in store for his encore?

We will have to wait a week to find out.