Who is Jalon Daniels? Bucs turning their fate over to undrafted rookie QB with Baker Mayfield hurt

The 0-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are turning to an undrafted rookie quarterback with 33 seconds of NFL experience as Baker Mayfield's thumb injury is expected to keep him out for around three weeks .

Jalon Daniels ' NFL debut came in Sunday's loss after Mayfield got hurt, with Daniels scrambling once for 9 yards and missing all three of his pass attempts, including the Hail Mary interception to ice the Minnesota Vikings ' 23-16 win in Tampa Bay .

Bucs fans are now left to wonder if giving Mayfield a $165 million extension was the right call — and whether this is destined to be a lost season. If there's a caveat, it's that Daniels knows a little something about facing adversity for a winless team.

In 2020, as a freshman for a winless Kansas Jayhawks team, Daniels was thrown into the helpless mix and the results were predictable. He struggled, losing all six of his starts and throwing for one TD and four interceptions. But Daniels was hardly the problem that season. Without him, that Kansas team somehow would have been far worse. And Daniels — over his six college seasons — became a darned respectable player, even if injuries held him back.

KU was in a bowl game two years later, and Daniels had a lot to do with it. That might provide only so much solace for Bucs fans who aren't prepared to wait two years for Daniels to develop. But Daniels won the Bucs' QB2 job outright in training camp and was impressive enough that the team kept only him and Mayfield on the roster to start this season.

Can Daniels keep the Buccaneers afloat until Mayfield returns? It's a tall order, but Daniels has some interesting ability and shouldn't be dismissed until we see him in action.

Daniels, who turns 24 next month, spent six years in college. Although he had three separate injuries of note and missed considerable time in 2023 with a back issue, Daniels had some really high notes in school.

After losing the starting job his sophomore year, Daniels replaced an injured Jason Bean and led Kansas to a 37-point scoring average in three starts, including a wild 57-56 win at Texas in 2021. Daniels won the job in 2022 and led KU to five straight wins before getting hurt in a loss. He returned to the field late that season to deliver a 544-yard, five-TD passing game in a triple-OT loss to Arkansas.

Daniels' final three seasons were more frustrating than not, with injuries hurting his effectiveness. But he finished his college career with 9,282 pass yards and a 67-31 TD-INT ratio, along with 1,445 yards rushing and 23 more scores on the ground. When healthy, Daniels was one of the better dual-threat quarterbacks in the game, even earning brief Heisman Trophy buzz during the hot start in 2022.

There were warts to his game, too. Turnovers plagued him throughout his career, especially at the end. It's never good to see a college quarterback become more turnover-prone as his collegiate career progresses, but that's what happened to Daniels. In his first 25 games, he fumbled 15 times and threw 12 interceptions. In his final 24 games, he fumbled 18 times and threw 19 picks.

Daniels has an NFL arm, but he struggled to throw with consistent ball placement and made some curious decisions, at times trying to thread the ball into tight (or closed) windows. He also would attempt to throw from awkward platforms, and the results could be ugly at times.

Yet there was some real magic to his game at times, owning the competitive desire and creative ability to make something out of nothing.

Daniels ran well (4.65-second 40-yard dash) at the 2026 scouting combine. He also uncorked a few nice deep balls during the throwing sessions that displayed his arm talent.

He went undrafted and eventually got a three-year deal valued at $3.125 million that includes $272,500 guaranteed and a $25,000 signing bonus, per Spotrac. Daniels found his footing with the Buccaneers and kept impressing them throughout the offseason. Eventually he surpassed Connor Bazelak and Jake Browning on the depth chart and ended up winning the backup job. Daniels' preseason stats (27-of-44 passing, one TD, zero interceptions; 14 carries for 37 yards) were modest but clean overall.

How Daniels can get the Bucs through three games

The key for Daniels will be to alter his approach a bit from his Kansas days, when he tried to hero-ball his way to victories at times, to a more steady approach with the Bucs.

Daniels' and Mayfield's skill sets have some overlap. They both have shorter, more thickly built physiques. Daniels might even be a more electric runner than Mayfield, although the vet's instincts as a runner might be more finely tuned.

Expect coordinator Zac Robinson to use Daniels' athleticism to the rookie's advantage: QB runs, bootlegs, designed rollouts and other plays to get him moving out of the pocket. It helps that the next two games are against Green Bay and Dallas , two defenses that have largely not had much success so far slowing down offenses.

The Bucs' pass protection can rightly be called into question after Sunday's performance against the Vikings — six sacks and multiple holding calls, one of which wiped out an 85-yard TD. Daniels' elusiveness can serve him well here, although he had a penchant for taking some bad sacks in college, including eight in one game last season against Texas Tech.

Fortunately, there's still the pulse of a run game with Bucky Irving , and the Bucs might be able to sprinkle in some read-option looks with Daniels. They also feature a strong top three targets in WRs Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin , and TE Cade Otton . And even for the line's questions, Daniels will have an All-Pro blocker in Tristan Wirfs protecting his backside.

There's also the fact that Mayfield was struggling. Yes, Daniels is replacing a $55 million quarterback, but Mayfield's play wasn't nearly as solvent; he's ranked among the lowest-rated QBs after three weeks.

This might appear as a hope-and-pray situation on the surface, but Daniels can actually elevate the Bucs' play in the short term compared to what the Bucs' passing game has looked like through three games. It won't be easy, but the intriguing rookie might not be overwhelmed trying to surpass a relatively low bar now.