Who Is Buccaneers Starting QB Jalon Daniels? What to Expect From the Rookie

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without Baker Mayfield in the lineup for the first time since he joined the team back in 2023 this Sunday.

Although Mayfield has had his fair share of issues since becoming the Bucs' starter several years ago, availability has not been one of them.

On Mayfield's last pass attempt of the team's Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, however, Mayfield dislocated his thumb and will now be forced to miss at least the next three games. It's far from ideal for the Buccaneers, who have stumbled out to an incredibly disappointing 0-3 start to a season that was filled with plenty of promise and optimism just a few weeks ago.

Without Mayfield in the lineup, the Bucs now have no choice but to turn to an unproven quarterback to try and help save their season.

Who is Jalon Daniels?

Daniels is a 23-year old rookie quarterback out of the University of Kansas. Despite some prolific production for the Jayhawks, the 6-year collegiate player went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft and made the decision to sign with the Buccaneers as a free agent.

Despite the fact that no team ended up using any draft capital to select Daniels, he had plenty of interest as a UDFA because of the tools and production he showed at Kansas. Daniels has plenty of talent, and his physical abilities caught the attention of some prominent draft analysts during the evaluation process — including NFL FIlms' Greg Cosell, who believes Daniels has the potential to blossom into a quality NFL starter.

Here’s the legendary Greg Cosell on Bucs UDFA QB Jalon Daniels, who was his favorite player in the draft. https://t.co/cxTLBhk4i2 pic.twitter.com/fV59R0bXq6
— JC Allen (@JCAllenNFL) April 26, 2026

Offseason Standout

Daniels was extremely impressive during his first NFL offseason. So much so that, even though the Buccaneers had already invested in veteran signal caller Jake Browning as the free agent of choice to become Mayfield's backup this season, they made the decision to cut him loose in order to elevate Daniels after seeing what he was capable of against NFL competition.

Daniels showed not only that he has a very live arm during the preseason, but that he's a dynamic athlete with good pocket poise and the leadership skills needed to run an NFL offense. In three preseason appearances, Daniels finished with a very efficient 27/44 passing with one passing TD, 27 rushing yards and one rushing TD with zero interceptions.

Just as important as Daniels' solid statistical production during his preseason was the manner in which he ignited the offense. Regardless of who was on the field with him, the Bucs looked like a completely different offense when Daniels was in the lineup compared to Connor Bazelak or Browning.

What Can We Expect From The Bucs New Starter?

As much as quality quarterback play depends on remaining calm, precise and measured in stressful moments, it also requires special instincts and an innate ability to make things happen under duress.

From what we've seen, Daniels has that.

During his time at Kansas and his more recent preseason NFL action, Daniels has shown he could possess the mentality and physical tools to have a reasonably high ceiling as a prospect. That bigger question is whether or not he can hold down the fort until Mayfield returns to the lineup so early in his career.

Well, considering the Bucs are still winless, it's hard to imagine Daniels doing any worse than what we've seen from Mayfield so far this season. It wouldn't be a complete surprise if we saw Daniels inject some life into an offense that is otherwise struggling for survival.

talked about new Bucs starting QB Jalon Daniels on the pod a bit today. I’m not kidding when I say I feel like I’ve been keeping tabs on him for *years* now. https://t.co/QcJByVkWz1 pic.twitter.com/SxEYbwoZyH
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 29, 2026

That being said, expectations should be tempered. Daniels had a steep learning curve adjusting to an NFL playbook, and there were some bumps in the road despite his overall strong play in the preseason. However, almost a month has passed since then. And as the team's primary backup quarterback over the first few weeks of the season, Daniels has had some valuable time to familiarize himself with Robinson's schematics.

But has it been enough? We'll soon find out.

One thing is clear, though. After a disastrous start to 2026 for Mayfield and the Bucs' offense, the team has little to lose by turning to their young, unproven and highly talented backup QB.

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