Buccaneers And Todd Bowles’ Fates Hinge On Undrafted Rookie QB. Meet Jalon Daniels.

TAMPA BAY — As if it wasn’t hard enough climbing out of an 0-3 start, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will do so Sunday against the Green Bay Packers with an undrafted rookie starting at quarterback for the first time in franchise history. Kansas grad Jalon Daniels had done well to earn the Buccaneers’ backup quarterback job with a strong training camp, and with Baker Mayfield sidelined at least three games with a dislocated thumb, he gets an unexpected shot at a lifelong dream. “I don’t even know if I can put it into words,” Daniels told reporters on Wednesday. “I mean, I’ve continued to say it’s a dream come true to even play for an NFL organization. To be able to go out there and have my first NFL career start, it means everything.” The goal for his Bucs teammates Sunday is to elevate their play enough that the 24-year-old doesn’t feel the full weight of trying to carry an entire team, one that has struggled mightily in their three losses. “He is not playing by himself. Everybody has to do their job,” said coach Todd Bowles, on the hot seat perhaps as much as any coach in the league with three wins in his last 14 games. “We’ve got to coach it the right way on both sides of the ball, including special teams. He’s got to play and just do his job. We’ve got 21 other guys that [are] going to be out there playing with him, so he’s not by himself. It’s nervous, but it’s exciting at the same time because you get to see somebody play. “No matter where you come from, your first NFL game has to come at some point, whether you’re a first-round pick or whether you’re a free agent. You’ve got to touch the field for the first time at some point, and then you’ve got to play.” Daniels came in at the end of Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and in throwing three passes, he threw as many as all Buccaneers undrafted rookie quarterbacks ever. Scott Milanovich had three in 1996, the only three of his NFL career. He’ll become the first Kansas quarterback to start an NFL game since 1987. The odds are against him, but his teammates have made it clear this week that they have confidence in him and will try to do the heavy lifting for him — they can all look back on their first NFL start. “Honestly, I think you have to put yourself in his shoes,” receiver Chris Godwin told me. “Your first game for a young guy is nerve-wracking as it is, let alone being a quarterback, stepping into this situation. So you just get behind him, support him, let him know we have his back. We know what we can do. So try to give him the freedom to play as free as possible. You’re going to make mistakes. We all do. So just alleviate that pressure off his shoulders that he doesn’t have to go out and try to win the game himself.” If the Buccaneers couldn’t win in three chances with Mayfield, who just got a $165 million extension, then how do they pull off a win with a rookie they got for a $25,000 signing bonus after the draft? Daniels played six years at Kansas and was a good but rarely great college passer. In his best year, Daniels threw for 2,014 yards, 18 touchdowns and four interceptions over nine starts in 2022. But injuries derailed his 2023 season before he played inconsistently in his final two years. He also showed promise as a dual-threat quarterback, rushing for 1,445 yards and 23 touchdowns over 49 career college games. Daniels has impressed his new teammates with a tireless smile and positivity, a fearlessness that helped him beat out veteran Jake Browning for the backup job in August. But how does he handle the nearly unprecedented pressure he’ll face Sunday afternoon? The same way he’s handled everything else in overcoming the odds to get to where he is now. “One thing I learned in college was, you can’t be the thermometer; you have to be the thermostat,” Daniels said. “You have to be someone who comes in and is able to set the temperature of the room, not test the room and try to be able to blend in with it. If a team is low, I have to be able to pick it up to be able to make sure that they’re even. If we’re high, then I have to be able to be low to be able to make sure that we’re even. I try to be as even-keeled as possible. I think that being able to go out there and have that even-keeled feel, the team around you feels that.” The Buccaneers know they’ll have to play much better around him. Tampa Bay’s offensive line has given up the most sacks in the league (13) and the second-most holding penalties (10). The defense has played well but forced just two turnovers in three games, and the special-teams unit gave up an 86-yard punt-return touchdown. Each loss makes it more viable that Bowles will be out as head coach, having used up the goodwill of division titles in each of his first three seasons. The Bucs looked like they were on their way to another last year, opening 6-2, but they lost seven of their last nine to miss the playoffs, and this year’s team has started where they left off. And an 0-4 start has historically been a death sentence for teams’ playoff hopes, with only one team in NFL history every making the postseason after losing their first four games. “Just get behind him early, obviously get the run game going,” tackle Tristan Wirfs said Thursday. “There are going to be ups and downs and we have to do our best to stay calm. He’s in his first time out there and it can be overwhelming. He has a lot on his plate. For us to stay together as a unit and rally behind him, he’ll know we’ve got his back.” In the last two seasons, NFL undrafted rookie quarterbacks are 1-5 as starters, with two touchdowns against 12 interceptions, the lone win coming in a game where the Vikings forced seven turnovers and won despite passing for just 51 yards. Could the Packers help the Buccaneers out? They’re coming off a 35-14 thrashing from the previously winless Falcons, and Green Bay comes in with both the NFL’s worst run game and the worst third-down offense. On defense, they’re 28th against the run, 29th on third downs and 30th in the red zone, so their problems could give the Bucs a spark they need on both sides of the ball. Daniels knows he’s in for a lot, but he’s also committed to enjoying the moments as they happen, knowing how long he’s waited for a chance like this. “Even when I think back to January, having those self-talks, you’re sitting there telling yourself no matter what happens, you have to be able to enjoy every single moment,” he said. “This is a dream come true. Obviously, your first start, you get one first start. You don’t do it twice. Just living in the moment, I think that’s everything. Being able to live in the moment, being able to take every single emotion in, being able to go through every single emotion. “I think that’s something somebody told me before, every high, every low, every good, every bad, go through every single emotion because it builds you into who you’re going to be and it builds character for every situation you’re going to come through down the line.”