TAMPA — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will turn to undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels in Week 4 against the Green Bay Packers after Baker Mayfield was ruled out with a dislocated thumb. Head coach Todd Bowles confirmed the injury at his Monday press conference, saying Mayfield is expected to miss a minimum of three weeks.
Tampa Bay carried just two quarterbacks on its 53-man roster plus one on the practice squad to open the season. Daniels, an undrafted rookie out of Kansas, backed up Mayfield through the first three games and is expected to start Sunday against Green Bay, with veteran journeyman Easton Stick likely to be elevated from the practice squad as his backup. At the 2026 NFL Combine, Daniels measured in at just under 6-foot-1 and 219 pounds and ran a 4.65-second 40-yard dash, illustrating his profile as a short, mobile dual-threat quarterback.
Daniels enrolled at Kansas for the 2020 season and started six of nine games as a true freshman in the COVID-shortened campaign, throwing for 718 yards, then split the starting job as a sophomore in 2021 before taking over in 2022. He dealt with injuries thereafter, playing only three games in 2023, and stayed in Lawrence for all six of his college seasons. In 2022, 2024 and 2025 he started 9, 12 and 12 games, passing for at least 2,000 yards and rushing for 400-plus yards in each season. The Jayhawks' best season in that span came in 2023 while Daniels was sidelined, finishing 9-4 and ranked 23rd in the final AP poll behind running back Devin Neal while senior Jason Bean stepped in to lead a win over UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein notes Daniels has "enough arm talent" to make deep throws and highlights athleticism and mobility as strengths, but flags accuracy and reading coverages as issues and says his footwork "unravels on occasion, even without heavy pressure." With that profile under center, Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is expected to get creative with pressure schemes after Mayfield took 13 sacks over the first three games — a 12% rate that points to significant pressure allowed. Daniels entered late Sunday against Minnesota and went 0-for-3 passing with an interception, a matchup that could offer a bounce-back chance for a Green Bay defense coming off an abysmal showing last Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons.