Here's How Buccaneers Will Give Jalon Daniels Some Extra Help vs. Packers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are desperately looking to get their first win after a 0-3 start. They aren't doing it under the best of circumstances, either.

Starting quarterback Baker Mayfield is injured with a dislocated thumb, so UDFA QB Jalon Daniels is set to take over. The Bucs believe in Daniels, but they probably didn't expect him to have to get a win in a season that is already sinking just four weeks in.

In order to help Daniels get that win, Tampa Bay will do its best to help Daniels out. Head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson went in-depth on what that could look like.

Graham Barton, Ben Bredeson Could Help Daniels With Protections

Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Graham Barton (62) exits the field after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Bowles mentioned on Monday that the first thing the Bucs should do to help Daniels is to make the offense less complex. They trust Daniels' abilities and knowledge of the playbook, but Mayfield has studied it longer, so this version in Week 4 should be simpler.

"Yeah, obviously Baker [Mayfield] has played longer, so he can carry a lot more mentally and install more and make more checks and audibles," Bowles said Wednesday. "We've just got to make sure Jalon is comfortable with the things we give him."

The goal is for Daniels to play football with what Robinson called a "clear mind" on Thursday. There's no way to know for sure what that will look like, but anything from quick-developing RPO concepts to screens will probably be on the table.

There's also the matter of setting protections. Quarterbacks often take a good portion of the duty when assigning protections for the offensive line, but centers can often assist or take a brunt of that duty as well.

Robinson explained Thursday that center Graham Barton and even guard Ben Bredeson, a former center himself, will help out Daniels with setting protections on Sunday.

“Yeah, it’s a combination of both, for sure," Robinson said. "Like today out at practice, there were some times when, hey, the offensive line — we’ve got some smart guys with Graham [Barton] and then [Ben] Bredeson…You know, he’s basically a center out there as well in terms of his command and his ownership of the looks.

"You know, we kind of set the table a certain way and then give the quarterback the ability to adjust, but that communication will be huge with the big fellas up front. If they see something, alert him for whatever the proper call needs to be made, but ‘J.D.’ (Daniels) has got a good handle on protection in general. He’s played a lot of football [during] his time at Kansas. But yeah, it’ll definitely be a combination of all those guys.”

Daniels will have to get used to NFL game speed fast — he simply doesn't have a choice otherwise if the Bucs want to win the game. But the team is surrounding him with methods to alleviate the burden, and time will tell if those methods work out on Sunday.

The Bucs will play the Packers at 1 p.m. Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

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