The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-3, and they are handing the offense to a rookie nobody drafted. Jalon Daniels makes his first NFL start Sunday against the Green Bay Packers after Baker Mayfield dislocated his right thumb in Week 3 against Minnesota. Mayfield is expected to miss at least three weeks, which ends his run of 57 straight starts for Tampa Bay.
Daniels spent six seasons at Kansas
Daniels is from Lawndale, California, and was a three-star recruit who flipped from Middle Tennessee State to Kansas. In 2020, he became the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener for the Jayhawks since 2010. That team did not win a game.
He left second in school history in passing yards, touchdown passes and completions, with 9,282 yards and 67 touchdown passes in 49 games. He also ran for 23 touchdowns. Daniels turns 24 on Oct. 29.
His best season came in 2022
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Kansas started 5-0 that year and was ranked for the first time since 2009 before Daniels hurt his shoulder against TCU. He still made second-team All-Big 12, then threw for 544 yards and five touchdown passes in a triple-overtime Liberty Bowl loss to Arkansas.
He was the Big 12’s preseason offensive player of the year in 2023, but a back injury limited him to three games. Daniels started all 12 games in each of the next two seasons and was a Campbell Trophy finalist in 2025. That award goes to the college player with the best mix of academics, leadership and football.
How an undrafted rookie became Tampa Bay’s backup
Daniels went undrafted in April. Tampa Bay signed him May 8 to a three-year contract with a $25,000 signing bonus.
He then won the No. 2 job over Jake Browning and Connor Bazelak. In three preseason games, Daniels completed 27 of 44 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown pass without an interception, and he ran for the winning score in the opener against the Jets. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport called him “a true find and a very cool story.”
What Daniels and his teammates are saying
His only regular-season action came after Mayfield’s injury against the Vikings, when he went 0 of 3 with an interception.
“It’s a dream come true,” Daniels said of his first start. He added, “Every single week I prepare as if I’m going to get the starting reps.”
Running back Kenny Gainwell called Daniels one of “the special young talents that’s in this league that a lot of people haven’t gotten the opportunity to see.”
