Jalon Daniels got his opportunity in the NFL preseason and made the most of it.
The former longtime Kansas standout, who went undrafted in the spring after six years with the Jayhawks, has won the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ No. 2 quarterback job, according to multiple reports on Sunday morning.
“A true find and a very cool story,” wrote ESPN’s Ian Rapoport, who first reported the news.
The Bucs cut Connor Bazelak, Daniels’ initial competition, on Saturday and are now also releasing veteran backup Jake Browning, whose injury-related absence in the preseason opener on Aug. 14 against the New York Jets allowed Daniels plenty of time to shine.
In that first game, he played behind Bazelak and impressed by going 10-for-15 passing for 111 yards and adding a rushing touchdown. He then led a late comeback against the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 22 in which he completed 9 of 14 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown to tight end Ko Kieft.
Daniels then started the exhibition finale on Friday as the Bucs took on the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Being able to go out and be the first quarterback out there, obviously that’s a dream come true,” Daniels said afterward, per the Associated Press. “Being able to start an NFL game as a starting quarterback, that’s something that you always dream of. Grateful for the opportunity. Like I said, we got to get better from there.”
Indeed, it didn’t go quite as smoothly; he was 8-for-15 for 57 yards and lost a fumble as Tampa Bay got shut out 19-0. But he clearly made enough of an impression over the course of training camp that the front office now trusts him to back up veteran Baker Mayfield.
“We definitely wanted to see more of him,” Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles said, per the AP. “We wanted to give him a long, lengthy look.”
Daniels, originally from Lawndale, California, spent portions of all six seasons starting games for the Jayhawks, including all of 2024 and 2025, and is second in KU history in passing yards, touchdowns, attempts and completions. He earned second-team all-conference honors in 2022 and was the Big 12’s preseason offensive player of the year ahead of the following season.
