By Jalon Daniels Takes Over: Keep It Simple and Give the Bucs a Chance
By Ken Filler | Tampa Bay Sports Journal
TAMPA — The Buccaneers do not need Jalon Daniels to save the season by himself.
They need to give him a fair chance to win a football game, and that starts with keeping things simple.
With Baker Mayfield out because of a dislocated right thumb, Daniels will make his first NFL start Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
Mayfield is expected to miss at least three weeks.
The Buccaneers are 0-3, and the room for mistakes is shrinking.
It is a tough spot for any quarterback. For a rookie who went undrafted, it is a lot to ask.
But here we are. The Bucs trusted Daniels enough to make him their backup. Now they have to help him do the job.
Will the offense look different with Daniels?
I expect some changes. The Bucs should still use much of the same offense, but they should choose plays that make him comfortable.
Give him throws he can make. Let him use his legs. And stop putting the quarterback in a spot where he has to rescue every drive.
Make the game easier for Daniels
Nobody should expect the Buccaneers to build a whole new offense in one week. The players have spent months learning this one.
The change should come in how much Daniels is asked to handle.
Mayfield has years of NFL experience. He has seen defenses try all kinds of tricks. Daniels is still learning what works at this level.
Todd Bowles made the goal clear this week.
“We’ve just got to make sure Jalon is comfortable with the things we give him,” Bowles said.
That is definitely the right approach.
I want to see a few easy completions early. Get the ball to a receiver who has room to run. Give Daniels a chance to settle down before asking him to make a difficult throw with defenders closing in.
A short pass that gains six yards helps this offense. So does throwing the ball away when nobody is open.
Not every play has to make the highlight reel.
Daniels can use his legs to lift the offense when needed.
One reason to be excited about Daniels is that he can make a play when the first chance to throw is gone.
At Kansas, he passed for 9,282 yards in 49 games.
He also ran for 1,445 yards and 23 touchdowns. Those numbers show that running is a real part of his game.
If a receiver is covered and there is open field ahead, Daniels can take the yards. A run for a first down can keep a drive alive and get the crowd going.
I would like to see the Bucs give him a chance to throw while moving away from the rush. He should not have to stand in the same spot all afternoon and wait for trouble.
But there is a limit. Daniels needs to protect himself and the ball. Take the yards, slide, and get ready for the next play.
His ability to run is a reason for hope. But the Bucs still have to block for him.
Changing quarterbacks will not fix a missed block. It will not erase a penalty. And it will not turn a dropped pass into a first down.
The rest of this offense has work to do.
The line must give Daniels time to look downfield. The running game must give him some help, and Receivers must catch the balls that reach their hands.
Those are basic demands, but they matter even more with a rookie starting.
There is a big difference between needing three yards for a first down and needing 12.
When the Bucs lose yards or commit a penalty, they will make Daniels’ job harder before he even gets the ball.
Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has to help, too.
If the Packers keep reaching Daniels before he can throw, the Buccaneers need to get the ball out faster.
The answer cannot be to keep calling the same thing and hope the next block holds up.
As a Buccaneer fan, I want to see this offense take some pressure off its quarterback for a change.
Keep taking chances downfield. Just because you
Keep things simple should not mean giving up on big plays.
If the Bucs only throw short passes, Green Bay can crowd the receivers and make those throws harder.
At the same time, the Bucs still need to make the Packers worry about getting beaten downfield.
When Daniels has time and a receiver gets open, let him take the shot. He earned this job by making plays. The coaches should give him chances to show why they believed in him.
I do not want to watch an offense so afraid of a mistake that it never gives itself a chance to score.
There will be growing pains. That is part of starting a rookie. But there is a difference between a young player learning and a team making his job harder than it needs to be.
Daniels gave the Bucs reason to believe.
He earned attention during the preseason because the offense moved the ball when he entered the game.
Daniels completed 27 of 44 passes for 239 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. He also ran for 37 yards and a touchdown.
The drives he led produced 30 of Tampa Bay’s 33 offensive points.
Those numbers do not promise a win against Green Bay, but they do explain why the Bucs were willing to trust him.
Bowles saw more than a few good throws.
“It wasn’t so much the plays he made; it was the poise he showed,” Bowles said of Daniels’ preseason play.
That calm will matter Sunday. There will be a missed throw. There may be a stalled drive. Daniels has to move on, and the team has to stay with him.
My expectation is simple: the offense should fit Daniels, and everyone around him should carry more of the load.
Get him comfortable early. Run the ball well enough to help him. Let him use his legs. Take a few chances when they are there.
Most of all, protect the football.
A 0-3 start has already tested this fan base.
We want to see a team that can finish drives, avoid costly mistakes, and give us a reason to believe the next Sunday will be better.
Daniels does not have to look like Mayfield. He has to play his game and give the Bucs a chance.
The coaches and his teammates owe him that same chance
