Todd Bowles On Jalon Daniels
August 29th, 2026
Bucs backup QB Jalon Daniels.
Perhaps with the way backup quarterback Jalon Daniels played in the first two worthless preseason games, the Bucs really were toying with the idea of Daniels being the immediate backup to Baker Mayfield.
That would have been quite the feat for the undrafted free agent from Kansas. And Joe guesses that played a part in why KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles decided to start Daniels last night.
But it wasn’t the only reason.
“We definitely want to see more of him, want him to get more experience, want him to play against the twos as opposed to the threes and fours,” Bowles said after the final worthless preseason game of the summer in Jacksonville last night.
“Get him in there and see how he operates. Wanted to give him a long, lengthy look.”
Daniels looked like an undrafted free agent last night. Of course, he got little to no help from a porous Bucs backup offensive line.
So is Daniels still in the running as QB2 for the Bucs? Bowles didn’t show his hand.
“He’s shown a lot,” Bowles said. “He’s shown a lot. We are going to go back and evaluate the film. … [Daniels will be judged on “the overall operation. Make sure he’s fine with that, then we’ll come back and look at the film.
“It wasn’t very good offensively tonight.”
To be even more fair to Daniels, if he did have to play for Baker Mayfield, likely would be behind one of the best offensive lines in the game and throwing to guys who make up one of the strongest receiver groups in the league.
Last night, except for Tez Johnson and Kam Johnson, Daniels was throwing to grad student TAs, court clerks and forklift operators.
August 29th, 2026 at 6:39 am
The backup O line looked like they never played football before. One play Klein looked like he got hit by a glacier in Nepal. It looked like he was trying to block the Hulk. Problem is, he shouldn’t still be on the team. He was horrible last season. Licht, and Bowles are on the clock this season. After reports of getting our arses kicked in practice, it was sad to see the team say, thank you may I have another.
August 29th, 2026 at 6:45 am
Daniels didn’t lose the QB2 job last night. He merely introduced Jake Browning’s résumé to the conversation.
August 29th, 2026 at 6:56 am
He made several good throws that hit guys in the hands and they dropped the ball. If anything, he plays more like Baker with his ability to extend plays. He makes more sense at WR2 than a guy who has produced nothing but a self-beating through three preseason games
August 29th, 2026 at 7:06 am
I thought by the eyeball test that Garrett Nussmeier looked better than Daniels in that 2nd preseason game even with the Chiefs offensive line looking horrible.
The Chiefs do not keep 3 QBs on their active squad and the two got to be Mahomes and Fields.
I am personally not sure why Bucs would not be exploring past both Browning and Daniels.
August 29th, 2026 at 7:15 am
It’s unfortunate Daniels had to play with that line last night ,, Niether he nor Browning should be QB2,,, But now some realize what Baker dealt with last year,, Feeney , Klein , Heck, Haggard and (former NBA great) Michael Jordan,, my goodness was that aweful! So we see what QBs get cut Sun night and see if it’s an upgrade ,, a couple teams have 4 back up type QBs in house, Maybe a flyer on Dillion Gabriel , he looked good Thur night or a Carson Wentz type ,, Either way at the moment we have QB 1 and QBs None
August 29th, 2026 at 7:17 am
Put him on the practice squad.
August 29th, 2026 at 7:20 am
I wouldn’t put any of those guys on my forklifts.
August 29th, 2026 at 7:31 am
Hes QB2. The team around him gave him no help. WRs dropping 3rd down passes, not coming back to the ball and poor OL protection. Would love to see him with the starters to see what he could do.
August 29th, 2026 at 7:44 am
Happy feet
Confused by NFL
preseason defenses
The hysteria has fallen apart
Now !
Pick up the BEST 53 cut down veteran QB at whatever the cap hit is!
Did Brasswell even play?
August 29th, 2026 at 7:46 am
Def a keeper over Browning….but please try to find a quality #2.
August 29th, 2026 at 7:53 am
JD’s upside also equates to his downside, raw talent. JD is also to relevant to attempt to hide on the practice square which moves the ultimate decision to the top of the list, make him QB 2! The Bucs more than qualified QIb coach could mold him into a quality backup and perhaps down the road a starting QB and leave the current head coach out of the equation!
August 29th, 2026 at 7:57 am
So if I’ve got this right, Daniels would be playing ‘behind one of the best offensive lines in the game and throwing to guys who make up one of the strongest receiver groups in the league’. He’d also have 2-3 very good RBs to operate with, as well as at least 1 relatively good TE (well, worth $10 mil a year apparently).
Seems to me that the same can be said about Mayfield. Outstanding OLine, strong receiver group, very good RBs & at least 1 OK TE. And oh ya, most seem to feel that our defense & S/Ts will be better this season than they were last season. He’s got what he SHOULD need to have a strong season.
So WHY are so many JBFers projecting us to have a losing season? Is it because they feel that Todd Bowles doesn’t know how to run a respectable defense? Hmmm, 2020, 2021 & 2023 defenses say otherwise, since all 3 … with some quality veterans like we have now … all ranked in the Top-10. Or is it because they don’t trust new Bucs’ OC Zach Robinson to be able to run a respectable offense? This is his 3rd year & he’s got a pretty good background before assuming OC duties. Or is it because many don’t trust Baker to operate that offense so as to get consistently good results over a 17-game regular season and thru the playoffs?
Something doesn’t smell right in Bucsville. We’ll know soon enough what it is.
August 29th, 2026 at 7:57 am
Interestingly I haven’t seen a cut and trade Baker to save his salary and have Daniels with his wealth of experience start week one post today…Hmmmmm last night make u put your phone down for a while?? You know who u are
August 29th, 2026 at 8:05 am
@DR,
Did you notice it Seems like a lot of the names I saw protecting Daniels last night who are terrible and are offered as why the qb played poorly are a lot of names that protected Baker last year in games that mattered.
What is it I read about Baker a lot on these here comment pages? Oh yeah, sorry rookie NO EXCUSES!
August 29th, 2026 at 8:17 am
Defense Drools
Jalon would then be playing against the best defenses and not the scrubs he has seen most of his time
August 29th, 2026 at 8:17 am
DR, some are predicting gloom, and doom, because they don’t believe we have one of the best O lines in football, or the deepest, best receiving corp. I’m somewhere in between. Let’s start with the starting O line. Wirfs is the best, but for the second season in a row he’s not 100%. Mauch is coming off a knee. Goedeke has had some bad moments in camp, being a bonehead one of them. Barton has been an average center. Overall, they’ve missed time. Didn’t play one snap together last year. Till they do, actually play like a top line, they are not. The recievers? Ebuka has been out with a toe, J Mac injured. Godwin, and Hurst, after that we saw what garbage is left last night. Guys couldn’t catch a cold. So if you’re buying the hype that we have the best of everything, we should have a great season. Some of us have our doubts.
August 29th, 2026 at 8:35 am
It seems we have a page full of hof quarterbacks on this page prepared to crucify a talented and way under supported potential backup quarterback who has demonstrated way more upside than down. From what I have seen from him is he bounces back from mistakes instantly and plays with fire, so I guess you would prefer a backup who doesn’t care as long as he gets paid to haunt the sidelines. Just saying.
August 29th, 2026 at 8:53 am
Can’t JL find serviceable backup OL guys??
August 29th, 2026 at 9:01 am
At the very least, Jalon needs to be on the 53 man roster. Last night proved that offensive line depth continues to be a major concern. If Tristan is not 100%, then what? I think adding at least one more good offensive line backup is just as important as another cornerback.
August 29th, 2026 at 9:05 am
Who is crucifying JD? Just saying to send him to the practice squad and let him develop a few seasons . At that point maybe we will be a decent back up QB. He may also be better than Browning but that doesn’t mean he’s ready for QB 2 ,, We will pick up some depth after cuts on Sun night and we need every man on the 53 to matter
August 29th, 2026 at 9:14 am
Jalon looked good playing against 4th stringers and future car salesmen.
Real 2nd string NFL players made him look like an undrafted NFL QB.
He looked bad
Happens every preseason.
Some mediocre 3rd string QB whips up on a bunch of scrubs- and the fan base thinks we have found the next Joe Montana.
See- Kyle Trask, Bruce Gradkoski, and a dozen other sub par back ups that I’ve thankfully forgotten
Smart fans knew Jaylon only looked good against nobodies.
What’s scary is just how bad Jake Browning has looked.
Pretty obvious that he doesn’t want to play. Just here for the check.
Only one QB on this roster. And I’m convinced he’s just waiting for his chance to leave town.
August 29th, 2026 at 9:29 am
Jalon is a footnote in Buccaneer preseason history
The reasons why he was undrafted were exposed last night.
Bring in the best veteran Quarterback released by tomorrow’s deadline!
August 29th, 2026 at 9:29 am
There will be better QBs cut tomorrow than Browning or Daniels. No one is going to put an UDFA on their 53 man roster.
But the backup QB has to be mobile bc it is too much to expect the starting 5 OL to stay intact for the season (or maybe even a game).
August 29th, 2026 at 9:35 am
The irrational adulation by the Daniels, Doods,was,worse than the Baker Bros. At least Baker had,success,in college and 3 good years at Browns to develop a traveling digital mob. I dont think the,Daniels doids ,had,any actual evidence with first stringers that Jayawk could play but rather it was really anti Baked trolling and some social agenda evidenced by inappropriate non football comments made last night.
August 29th, 2026 at 9:37 am
🎯
Marky
🎯
August 29th, 2026 at 9:39 am
We should pick up Dylan Gabriel. Browns,were ordered to play that Perv by the owner who is desperate to say I told you so. Sanders is not much better than Dylan but a better box office draw.
August 29th, 2026 at 11:07 am
How sure is everybody that Daniels could run a forklift? or does he need the top-o-the-line warehouse workers to help?
August 29th, 2026 at 11:07 am
Maybe they’ll use Daniels as leverage against Baker like they plan to use Williams against Tucker.
Way to build loyalty, Licht.
August 29th, 2026 at 11:18 am
It isn’t just about Daniels.
Jake Browning roved he can’t even produce against camp meat…wereas Daniels did produce against camp meat in the two previous games.
None of the three guys we have as a potential backup are good enough, but Daniels is the best of the three. Hands down.
I don’t think Daniels will ever be a full time starter, but I do think he can develop into a decent backup and be used in a Wildcat formation.
Our biggest problem right now is that we need a competent backup immediately.
Licht needs to keep close watch on the wire.
August 29th, 2026 at 11:18 am
Daniels definitely had an off night, but there were multiple drops for 1st downs on clutch 3rd down throws from Daniels too, so that played a role in the scoreless outing for sure.
Even Ace pitchers have an off day once in awhile.
Dsniels is still way better than Browning and Ballzack.
August 29th, 2026 at 11:20 am
ModHairKen Says:
“Maybe they’ll use Daniels as leverage against Baker like they plan to use Williams against Tucker.
Way to build loyalty, Licht.”
Wow. You just made something up, and then blamed Licht for it. That’s skilled trolling right there!
August 29th, 2026 at 11:24 am
Despite the poor showing by the offense, Daniels looked light years better than Jake Browning – something I never thought I would say.
The O-line was horrible the entire game – 1st through 4th quarters and yeah, when you are not playing your #1 TE and none of the top three WRs are playing, it’s bound to be a pretty rough night for any QB.
August 29th, 2026 at 11:35 am
Erik,, true, ace pitchers have off nights but JD is not an ace pitcher , he was a 5-7 pitcher last year in AA,,, Nothing wrong with the practice squad ,, give him a couple years to develop and go get a real back up,, JD, Browning and Balz not ready to play in this league against scheming D Coordinators and 1st team Defenses. Unless we go out Mon and get Gabriel or Wentz (or someone like that),(I also like Cooper Rush, always played decent for the boys )Bowles will make Browning the back up not cause he’s better but cause he is a vet w game experience .
August 29th, 2026 at 11:40 am
I definitely have to give Coen his just due, nice job. I know the kid needs some work but Teddy didn’t do nothing last season so, Jalon learns on the fly, so to say. Baker would have to be taken off the field on a cart, to leave a game!! True Warrior mind set lol. Steve Young folks
August 29th, 2026 at 11:43 am
Let Denver put Sam Ehlinger on the PS and go get him. He has looked better than any QB on the Bucs not named Mayfield.
August 29th, 2026 at 12:55 pm
What everyone saw last night was a glimpse of the future if Daniels was named QB2..Against starting LB’s and CB’s and veteran defensive coordinators, it would have been an embarassment on national TV…It would be better if the Bucs save his confidence and health and let him grow into the role of an NFL quarterback over the next couple of seasons…Better for Daniels in the long run…
August 29th, 2026 at 1:16 pm
I think Daniel’s might be a decent QB one day but he’s dropped two or three snaps from the center this season. Of course he didn’t have any blocking and his receivers did not help him out last night. They weren’t easy catches but they could have been caught. He looks like he could become a good player but I don’t think you make him the backup QB. Either the Bucs try to sneak him on the practice squad or go with three QB’s to start the season.
August 29th, 2026 at 3:46 pm
Scott McKirahan … ‘Despite the poor showing by the offense, Daniels looked light years better than Jake Browning – something I never thought I would say.’
I’d personally like to see Daniels stay as QB#3 so that he could run the scout team. There are a lot of mobile QBs in the league nowadays, and he’d do a much better job of simulating those than Browning would.
Noticed that the NFL now allows teams to protect 4 guys on the Practice Squad instead of just 2. So IF we didn’t want to keep all 3 on the active roster, we could put Daniels on the PS and still protect him. Here’s what the rules say …
NFL teams can now protect 4 players on their practice squad each week instead of 2. Practice Squad Protection Rules Weekly Designation: Every Tuesday, teams can choose up to 4 practice squad members to protect. Protection Window: Protected players cannot be signed to another team’s active 53-man roster from Tuesday until kickoff of that week’s game. Poaching Prevention: If a player is not 1 of the 4 protected, other NFL teams are free to sign them directly to their own active roster.
August 29th, 2026 at 5:04 pm
His fumbled snap showed his not ready. Put him on practice squad. Cut browning and find (Dillon Gabrial ?) someone else for QB2.
August 29th, 2026 at 6:59 pm
For those who think he played poorly last night, legitimately, what is that based on? Did you actually watch the game, or just look at the box score?
Daniels, to me, looked good last night – he was just crippled by some awful play all around him. In a game like that, you just want to see how the QB handles themselves, do they get frustrated and throw a fit based on his WR’s continually dropping passes on 3rd down killing drives? When he’s behind a line that can’t block (or Tucker is at RB and can’t block) and is constantly under pressure, do they start getting happy feet and taking off early, or do they continue to keep looking down the field and trying to make a play? How is their accuracy? How is their velocity?
Last night on every point, I thought Daniels did well.
Yes, you can give a demerit for the fumble – we already know he needs to continue to work on that, but what, outside of that, did he do poorly? I just didn’t see it – although I still want to check out the ALL22 this week and see if he was missing guys down the field, which was impossible to tell from the TV angles and the fact the garbage broadcast failed to show wide replays where you might see coverage.
August 29th, 2026 at 7:08 pm
Lets pry Tyson Bagent from Da Bears….thats a quality bu QB!
August 29th, 2026 at 7:26 pm
I can’t judge Daniels because I didn’t see the game yet. At the same time, how can anyone judge Browning on 4 throws?
August 29th, 2026 at 8:13 pm
Of course he looked like a UDFA. That’s what he is and that’s not where you find (even backup) QBs in the league. JBF, like all local print thinks the local team has some yocal they can’t possibly cut because every other team is waiting with baited breath. Listen to any preseason game and you’ll here the refrain repeated… “Can’t cut this guy cause there’s 20 teams waiting to snatch HIM up.”
That’s never true and isn’t close to reality. Love the smile and spirit but that’s all he’s got, for now. Little bit of noodle in the arm and needs years (plural) on the PS to gain some semblance of control to be able to make a contested throw at this level.
AKA UDFA QB. Full stop.
August 29th, 2026 at 9:11 pm
Daniels doods are blaming everyone else but Jaylon. Now what other bros does that sound like? One side charges the other with favoritism.then does it themselves.
August 29th, 2026 at 9:17 pm
Oscar Says:
August 29th, 2026 at 7:26 pm
I can’t judge Daniels because I didn’t see the game yet. At the same time, how can anyone judge Browning on 4 throws?
———–
Browning has years of tape, and last week played over an entire half of the game. The biggest issue to me is the way he throws the ball. There is absolutely no zip on the ball at all, he just sort of lofts the ball, which just never works well in the NFL. In 2023 he did have a good run for a few game – but rewatching the “highlights” – I came away very concerned. Basically he was just throwing some real softball garbage and Chase and Higgins were making some big time plays to get to the ball.
In any case, I can’t really see anyone picking up Browning if the Bucs cut him – it seems more safe to cut him than to cut Daniels. Not that I think Daniels would get picked up either, but certainly Daniels would get more looks than Browning. For Browning, once he clears waivers, you just bring him back to the practice squad. Or maybe you look at the cuts around the league and bring in someone else – I think some QB’s with name value and experience will end up getting cut as the rookie QB class this year as been unexpectedly strong.
August 29th, 2026 at 9:17 pm
Bucs,already cut the other QB that played yesterday..Things,are looking better for the Daniels Doods. I dont think you put a guy at the 2 who has,never player against NFL ones..
August 29th, 2026 at 9:55 pm
Go get the Steelers #3 or #4 let Daniels go to Canada if they still have a league there
August 29th, 2026 at 11:23 pm
Daniels is no Rudy Condor Carpenter, that’s for sure.