Jalon Daniels didn’t need long to find out he had climbed to QB2 in Tampa Bay. After finishing a conditioning run with the Buccaneers on Sunday, the undrafted rookie quarterback was told by wide receiver Tez Johnson that the team had moved on from veteran backup Jake Browning a day after cutting Connor Bazelak.
That left the former Kansas standout in position to open the season as Baker Mayfield’s backup.
Daniels said the news reached his family almost as quickly as it reached him. He called his mother and father after hearing it, only to learn they had already seen it on social media back in Lawndale, California.
The congratulations started rolling in soon after. Former Kansas coaches and teammates were among the first to reach out, including Lance Leipold, Jim Zebrowski and Matt Gildersleeve.
Daniels earned the job with a strong preseason showing. In three exhibition games, the 6-foot, 205-pound quarterback completed 27 of 44 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown while also rushing 14 times for 37 yards and another score.
He helped engineer second-half comebacks in wins over the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. His final preseason outing was quieter - a 19-0 loss to Jacksonville in which Tampa Bay failed to score during the two-plus quarters he played - but it was still enough for the Buccaneers to trust him with the No. 2 spot.
Daniels said he has leaned on Mayfield throughout the process.
“I’ve leaned on him (Mayfield) a lot. He’s also somebody when I have a question he has no problem with answering it,” Daniels said. “And if he does not have the answer at the time, he’s going to be able to do everything that he can to be able to give me that answer.
“And when we’re talking about football on the field, if I have a question about a play where I need more understanding on a read, more understanding on a progression, or more understanding on just protection-wise, he’s someone who I’m able to lean into, and he’s able to give me those answers.”
The opportunity caps a long run for Daniels at Kansas, where he threw for 9,282 yards and 67 touchdowns with 31 interceptions from 2020-25 and added 1,445 rushing yards and 23 scores.
He said making an NFL roster takes more than simply being a rookie free agent.
“It’s more than just being an UDFA. I think if you’re a draft pick, you still have to be able to come in with that chip on your shoulder and be able to be ready to work with your head down,” he said.
“Because at the end of the day it’s the NFL. You have to be ready to compete no matter what day it is.
It could be the beginning, the end of the season, middle of the season. You have to be able to go out there and be able to compete when your number’s called.”
Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht called it “an incredible accomplishment for an undrafted rookie to get that (QB2) position.”
“You can go back and forth with the experience argument, but we’d rather have a very talented, prepared, inexperienced QB than going with experienced just for the sake of saying the guy is experienced,” Licht added in an interview with Tampabay28.com.
Todd Bowles pointed to Daniels’ poise as the separator.
“We started seeing it in camp,” Bowles told Tampabay28.com. “Once he played the first preseason game, he had a very good game.
It wasn’t the plays he made, it was the poise he showed. The learning got better every week, day by day and he beat him (Browning) out.”
Mayfield also praised Daniels’ rise, telling ESPN.com that he’s “proud of Jalon. I thought he took tremendous steps from the first time I met him in the offseason to now.
Played his tail off, worked hard, worked on some of the things the coaches wanted to get done out of him, for him to progress with. … Yeah, I’m excited for him.”
In Other News...
Kansas Football Faces A Season Fans May Need To Judge Differently
Kansas football enters this season with a different kind of expectation hanging over the program, one that is harder to sell but maybe more realistic to live with. The Jayhawks are trying to navigate an inexperienced quarterback situation, a receiver room that looks thin, and a defense that did not show enough improvement last year to inspire easy optimism, even with some encouraging pieces still in place.
There is at least reason to believe the offense can look more organized, especially with Andy Kotelnicki back guiding that side of the ball and young talent like Isaiah Marshall and Dylan Edwards giving the staff something to work with. Still, the bigger question around Kansas is not whether it can flash at times, but whether a season that looks merely decent can actually be viewed as a step forward for a program still trying to build toward something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Fans Face Another Year Of A Different Booth Experience
Since the end of the 2023 season, David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium has been going through more than the usual offseason tune-up. Kansas opted for a major reconstruction rather than a simple renovation, and the result is a much different game-day setting for fans heading into 2024, with the long-term plan aimed at reshaping the home of the Jayhawks into a more modern venue.
The changes are not close to finished, either. The main stadium project is slated to wrap in August 2025, but the area around it is still set for more work after that, including a hotel, retail space and parking. For now, the fan experience will continue to reflect a program in transition, with the familiar Booth atmosphere replaced by a version of the stadium that is still very much under construction. [Read more 🡒]
Dylan Edwards Gives Kansas Fans Hope With One Big Thing Left To Prove
Dylan Edwards has given Kansas fans a reason to look twice this summer, and Lance Leipold is not hiding his belief that the transfer back can be a difference-maker. After stops at Colorado and Kansas State, Edwards arrives in Lawrence with the kind of speed and open-field burst that can change how a defense has to play Kansas, and Leipold has already described him as a special talent and a threat whenever the ball is in his hands.
The intrigue now is less about whether Edwards belongs and more about how quickly he can turn promise into production in a new setting. Kansas will lean on him in the backfield, but the next step is proving he can carry that expectation over a full season and settle into the role the Jayhawks believe he can handle. [Read more 🡒]