A top backup, BSPN says.

An interesting way of thinking to determine Bucs reserve quarterback Jalon Daniels is one of the best backups in the league.

That’s the conclusion that Seth Walder of BSPN, a man who never met a number he didn’t like, came to in tagging Daniels as the No. 7 backup quarterback in the NFL.

This, despite Daniels being a rookie and having never taken a snap for the Bucs in a real game.

The way Walder seems to think, if the KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles decided to keep a rookie undrafted free agent as Baker Mayfield’s immediate backup, the Bucs must have something good on their hands; otherwise, they would never take such a massive, if not irresponsible, risk for a team that has playoff aspirations.

Is this a reach? Maybe. But undrafted rookies face serious headwinds making rosters, much less being in potentially important roles. So, the fact that Daniels beat out Jake Browning (my No. 2 backup last year) is a major point in his favor. It’s a far stronger signal than a middle-round pick landing a backup job partially due to the draft capital used on him.

The preseason tape is incredibly enticing, too, with Daniels spinning out of pressures like Russell Wilson, making throws on the run and ripping the ball downfield between defenders. His value is team-dependent. He is a less helpful backup for a Super Bowl contender because he’s riskier than many of the players below [in the ranking]. But he also has a lot more upside.

This all sounds good. And Joe likes Daniels a lot. But man, if anything would happen to Mayfield late in the season and the Bucs are fighting for a playoff spot, that’s a whole helluva lot of pressure to put on an undrafted free agent.

Maybe the Bucs figure with his wheels, he would be able to survive having to put the Bucs on his back?

So why isn’t Daniels ranked, say, at No. 6? Because that is where Walder has America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston.