By From Undrafted to QB2: Could Jalon Daniels Become the Buccaneers’ Quarterback of the Future?
By Ken Filler | Tampa Bay Sports Journal
TAMPA — Four months ago, 257 players heard their names called during the 2026 NFL Draft.
Jalon Daniels wasn’t one of them.
Now he is one play away from becoming the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
And perhaps the more intriguing question is:
Could Daniels eventually become the Buccaneers’ starting quarterback when the Baker Mayfield era in Tampa Bay comes to an end?
That may sound like getting way ahead of ourselves.
Maybe it is.
But after what Daniels accomplished during training camp and the preseason, it is at least a question worth asking.
The Buccaneers made one of their most interesting roster decisions Sunday when they released veteran Jake Browning and Connor Bazelak, leaving Daniels as the only quarterback on the 53-man roster behind Mayfield.
The rookie who entered training camp fourth on the depth chart is now QB2.
Daniels Earned His Opportunity
Daniels didn’t win the backup job because of his college résumé or because Tampa Bay wants to develop him for some distant future.
He won it with his play.
Over three preseason games, Daniels completed 27 of 44 passes for 239 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions, while adding 37 rushing yards and another touchdown.
But the numbers don’t completely explain why Daniels became so intriguing.
The offense seemed to change when he entered the game.
Against the New York Jets, Daniels completed 10 of 15 passes for 111 yards and directed two second-half touchdown drives, including scoring himself on a one-yard run in Tampa Bay’s 24-16 victory.
Then came Kansas City.
With the Buccaneers trailing 9-0 and the offense going nowhere, Daniels entered in the second half and provided another spark.
He led Tampa Bay on all three of its scoring drives, finishing with 71 passing yards, 19 rushing yards, and a two-yard touchdown pass to Ko Kieft as the Buccaneers rallied for a 16-15 victory.
Afterward, Daniels explained the mentality that has helped him get this far.
“I just come in with confidence. I think I’m very confident with everything that I do within this game of football.”
Daniels said he has dreamed about playing football at this level since he was seven years old and approaches every opportunity expecting to take advantage of it.
The preseason finale in Jacksonville wasn’t nearly as impressive.
Daniels completed 8 of 15 passes for 57 yards in Tampa Bay’s 19-0 loss, was sacked three times, and was involved in another poor quarterback-center exchange.
The Buccaneers’ backup offensive line didn’t give him much help, either.
Still, Tampa Bay had apparently seen enough.
Todd Bowles Saw More Than Athletic Ability
What impressed Todd Bowles wasn’t simply Daniels’ ability to scramble or make something happen when a play broke down.
It was everything else.
“For a rookie, he is a very smart player,” Bowles said following the Kansas City game. “He pays attention in the meetings. He is great in the building. He wants to know everything; he processes everything well.”
NFL quarterbacks can have all the arm talent and athleticism in the world, but if they can’t process defenses, understand protections, and run an offense, they won’t last very long.
Daniels has shown Tampa Bay that there may be more to work with than originally expected.
His Journey Started as an Overlooked Recruit
Being overlooked isn’t exactly new for Daniels.
Coming out of Lawndale High School in California, Daniels was a three-star quarterback prospect.
Despite his dual-threat ability, his recruitment wasn’t filled with offers from college football’s biggest programs.
Kansas and Syracuse were his only Power Five offers. Daniels initially committed to Middle Tennessee before changing course and signing with Kansas.
That decision changed his life.
Daniels played immediately at Kansas, appearing in seven games and making six starts as a true freshman in 2020.
He became the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener for Kansas since 2010.
Jason Bean won the starting job in 2021, pushing Daniels into a reserve role. But after Bean was injured late in the season, Daniels got another opportunity.
He took advantage of it.
Daniels helped Kansas pull off a stunning 57-56 overtime victory at Texas and eventually replaced Bean atop the depth chart.
From there, Daniels became the face of Kansas football.
One of the Best Quarterbacks in Kansas History
Daniels’ final college numbers tell you how productive he became.
Over six seasons and 49 games, Daniels completed 734 of 1,193 passes for 9,282 yards and 67 touchdowns.
He also rushed for 1,445 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Daniels finished his Kansas career:
- Second in school history in passing yards — 9,282
- Second in touchdown passes — 67
- Second in completions — 734
- Second in pass attempts — 1,193
- Tied for the school record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback — 23
- One of only two Kansas players to surpass 10,000 yards of total offense
His 2022 season showed just how dynamic he could be.
Daniels helped Kansas start 5-0 and earn its first national ranking since 2009.
He finished that season with 2,014 passing yards and 18 touchdowns while adding 425 yards and seven scores on the ground.
He earned second-team All-Big 12 honors.
Then, after injuries interrupted his 2023 season, Daniels returned to start every game in both 2024 and 2025.
As a senior, he threw for a career-high 2,531 yards and 22 touchdowns against seven interceptions, while rushing for another 404 yards and four scores.
Yet none of that was enough to get him drafted.
What About Daniels’ Game Translates to the NFL?
This is where Daniels becomes interesting.
He isn’t the prototypical 6-foot-4 pocket quarterback with a cannon for an arm.
What he does have is mobility, experience, confidence, and the ability to create when the original play breaks down.
Daniels can extend plays without immediately becoming a runner. He can escape pressure, move outside the pocket, and keep his eyes downfield.
And when a defense gives him running room, he can make it pay.
Something else has also shown up during the preseason.
Poise.
Daniels described something Kansas taught him called the “rule of zero.”
The idea is simple: When a play breaks down, don’t turn a bad play into a disaster. Get back to the line of scrimmage and live for the next snap.
“You’ve got to be the eraser,” Daniels said. “When there’s something bad going on, you can’t allow it to continue.”
That mentality translates to the NFL.
He still has a few things to clean up.
The center-quarterback exchanges have been an issue during the preseason.
He will need to become more consistent operating from the pocket, and preseason success against backup defenses is obviously a long way from doing it on a Sunday afternoon against an NFL starting defense.
But Daniels has already cleared the first hurdle.
Baker Mayfield Has Noticed
Perhaps one of the strongest endorsements came from the guy Daniels is backing up.
Mayfield has watched the rookie’s development throughout the offseason and training camp.
“I’m proud of Jalen,” Mayfield said Sunday. “I think he’s shown tremendous steps from the first time I met him in the offseason until now.”
Mayfield also praised Daniels for playing hard, putting in the work, and improving in the areas the coaching staff emphasized.
For Daniels, there probably isn’t a better veteran quarterback to learn from.
Mayfield knows something about being doubted himself.
His NFL career appeared headed in the wrong direction before he arrived in Tampa Bay and resurrected it.
Now Daniels gets to sit in the quarterback room with him every day.
Watch how Mayfield prepares, how he handles the huddle, how he reads defenses and leads.
That’s an invaluable education for a rookie quarterback.
Could Daniels Really Be Tampa Bay’s Quarterback of the Future?
We shouldn’t get carried away after three preseason games.
Daniels hasn’t taken a regular-season NFL snap.
We don’t know what he’ll look like against a starting defense game-planning specifically to stop him.
And the Buccaneers certainly aren’t looking to replace Mayfield right now.
But this is what makes Daniels such an intriguing player to follow.
Tampa Bay didn’t spend a first-round pick on him.
It didn’t spend any pick on him. There is virtually no pressure to rush his development.
The Buccaneers can let Daniels sit behind Mayfield, learn the offense, and develop.
Maybe Daniels becomes nothing more than a capable backup quarterback.
That’s still an enormous victory for an undrafted free agent.
Maybe the mobility, experience, intelligence, and confidence the Buccaneers saw throughout August continue to develop.
Maybe the quarterback nobody wanted on draft weekend eventually gives Tampa Bay an option it never expected.
Four months ago, Daniels was waiting for his phone to ring while 257 players were selected ahead of him.
Today, he’s No. 2 on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback depth chart.
