Undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels enters Tampa Bay with a long shot and a real opening.
Nobody around the Buccaneers is pretending the former Kansas standout is suddenly going to jump Baker Mayfield or Jake Browning on the depth chart. Mayfield is locked in as the projected starter if healthy, and Browning is viewed as a steady backup. So for Daniels, the path is narrower and a lot more practical: beat out second-year pro Connor Bazelak and make himself too useful to let go.
That’s where this preseason starts to matter.
Bazelak, another undrafted quarterback, already showed last summer that he can stick around. He completed 32 of 46 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown in the preseason, earned a practice squad spot, and was later promoted to the active roster in late November 2025. Daniels now has to prove he can do enough in exhibition play to force Tampa Bay’s hand.
Todd Bowles likes what he has seen so far. The Bucs coach called attention to Daniels’ arm and his ability to create when things break down.
“I like his arm strength,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said of the 6-1, 220-pound Daniels in a recent interview session with media who cover the Bucs.
“He can make some very unconventional throws. Obviously, you want to see the normal stuff as well, but when he gets in trouble he can get himself out of trouble, and that’s big,” Bowles added of Daniels.
The offensive staff has been just as encouraged. Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson told Greg Auman of Fox Sports that Daniels has handled the transition from college offense to the NFL version with maturity, while also flashing the kind of arm talent that gets noticed quickly.
“He’s done a great job. He’s really smart.
Coming into a completely different scheme from the college scheme that he played in, he’s taking it all in. He’s getting a decent amount of reps throughout practice but his arm is explosive.
You’ve seen it out there. There’s not a throw he can’t make or a throw he doesn’t believe he can’t make, which obviously that is finding the right balance with a young guy.
“He continues to learn to play the position: ‘When can I hang in the pocket and go through my reads? When can I bail and try to make a play?’
He’s got some unique ability outside the pocket but that’s the biggest thing with all those young guys - play within the scheme, play within the timing and the rhythm of the offense, get the ball where it needs to go. And then if it does break down, that’s where you use your God-given ability and make a play.
He is doing a great job and his arm, like I’ve mentioned is one of the better ones I’ve been around.”
Daniels’ first live NFL action could come Aug. 14 against the Jets, with another preseason game set for Aug. 22 against the Chiefs in Tampa.
He has also spent time learning from Mayfield, whose size is similar at 6-1, 215 pounds. Daniels said he has leaned on the veteran for the small details that separate college football from the pro game.
“For me, it’s about being able to see what he’s doing and being able to pick up little things,” Daniels told buccaneers.com. “Obviously, he’s going on year nine in the NFL now.
He’s played this game for quite some time and he has a lot of knowledge within his game that I don’t have yet. Every little thing that I want to work on, I ask him those questions.”
Mayfield has also made one point clear: the NFL demands a different kind of workload.
“First of all, having more on your plate as a quarterback, especially pre-snap,” Daniels said. “I think there’s a lot more pre-snap communication that goes on that goes into the offense.
Also, the speed of the game. You’re now going against D-linemen who have run 4.4, 4.5 at the Combine.
You’re not just going to be able to beat everyone with your speed anymore like you could in college and high school. Being able to make sure that you’re processing the game mentally as much as you are physically.
“After rookie minicamp, I was sitting here like, ‘I’ve got a grasp of the offense, I know exactly what I’m doing.’ Then you get put in there with the veterans and you’re like, ‘Oh, so I don’t even have 10% of what I thought I knew.’
It’s also been like a journey in that manner as well, because when you really think you have it in this game, you really don’t. You don’t want to get hit by that tire that’s rolling behind you.”
Daniels’ college résumé gives Tampa Bay a reason to keep watching. He threw for 9,282 yards and 67 touchdowns at Kansas, both good for No. 2 in school history behind Todd Reesing, and added 23 rushing touchdowns, tying Chip Hilleary for No. 1 among KU quarterbacks in the record book.
His personality may help too. Daniels has come off as upbeat and loose, and he believes that matters.
“It’s all about being able to have fun,” he said. “If you’re going out there and having fun and not worrying about anything external, just being able to make sure that you’re handling your assignment every single play, you’re going to go out there and have a blast.”
Auman sees a realistic but still steep climb ahead. He noted Daniels’ six seasons at Kansas, 49 college starts, and mobility as traits that could make him valuable in practice, especially as a scout-team quarterback who can mimic a scrambling opponent. He also pointed out that Tampa Bay guaranteed Daniels $272,500, close to a full practice squad salary.
Still, the order of operations is simple. Daniels has to beat Bazelak first.
Then he has to do enough in preseason to make the Bucs think twice about trying to sneak him onto the practice squad. And even then, Browning remains the experienced name in the room behind Mayfield.
For Daniels, the door is open - just not very wide.
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