Jalon Daniels Tried To Imitate Baker Mayfield
October 13th, 2026
Baker Mayfield was all smiles in Dallas.
Buccaneers rookie backup quarterback Jalon Daniels has no identity crisis.
He’s a confident cat who proved to the NFL he was ready when his number was called after Baker Mayfield busted up his throwing thumb. And in just his second start on Thursday in Dallas, Daniels impressed a lot of people with a win and confident performance.
Was Daniels just being himself? Not quite.
“I try to make everything feel as if Baker’s still in the game because the more you’re able to have everybody else feel comfortable with you. as far as being able to call the plays, being able to operate and be able to make sure everything still still seems sound, you have to be able to put that on your shoulder and be able to do that,” Daniels told Bucs’ Players Table. (Joe listens on the SiriusXM Buccaneers channel.)
What an impressive approach by the rookie.
“So, that short week for me, I was just trying to do everything that I can to be able to make sure that everybody else was comfortable around me,” Daniels continued. “But also trying to be able to make sure that I’m able to execute the plays when game day comes.”
Joe would love to see Daniels deliver a truly stellar day Sunday at home against Pittsburgh. Joe is referring to a player-of-the-week type game with a few touchdowns through the air and maybe one on the ground. Not only are the Bucs desperate for the win, it would be fun to see how Todd Bowles handles what — in that short-term moment — would/could/should be a starting quarterback controversy.
October 13th, 2026 at 3:37 pm
As I’ve been saying, there’s 165 million reasons why there will be no quarterback controversy.
October 13th, 2026 at 3:53 pm
Dream on Joe, love the thought, but he could throw 4-TDs and run for 2 more, and if Baker’s ready for the next game, Baker’s a go.
October 13th, 2026 at 3:55 pm
What should be fun, should Daniels do what you described, is the teams success, Daniels success and the fans having reason for optimism for this year going forward and perhaps the future. Why would it be fun to see how Bowles handles a qb controversy?
October 13th, 2026 at 3:56 pm
Personally I’d rather have Mayfield starting against Pitt anyhow
October 13th, 2026 at 3:56 pm
Some people love drama I guess!
October 13th, 2026 at 4:00 pm
I mean, who are we kidding? It’s not like the bar was set unreasonably high. I will say however, I like hearing Daniels speak about ball because he goes into classroom mode and his love for the game starts to pour out. The rare occasion where a player says the right things, partly because it’s engrained in his thought process. Kid sounds like he can be on a staff if he couldn’t play ball at a high enough level.
October 13th, 2026 at 4:01 pm
Oscar…Joe LOVES drama!
October 13th, 2026 at 4:24 pm
CB
KlickLure
October 13th, 2026 at 4:38 pm
Licht was trying to do the right thing but was overruled by the owners.
October 13th, 2026 at 4:51 pm
Jalon Daniels played better on Thurs than Baker has played since before the bye week last year.
If Daniels keeps winning, there should be no QB controversy. Daniels should be QB1.
If Daniels wins 50% of the games he plays in, then maybe it’s a difficult decision or controversy.
Baker has won 2 out of the last 12 games. Think about how terrible that really is. It’s bad.
October 13th, 2026 at 5:03 pm
If we don’t get a sack on Rodgers we’re likely doomed.
That is what this article is missing. Hard truths about defensive shortfalls.
Nope. Let’s glaze Baker instead. Good job Joe!
October 13th, 2026 at 5:06 pm
In 2001 when Rookie tom Brady replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe, Brady’s salary was $298,000 not even a tenth of Bledsoe’s $3,400,000. Despite this huge disparity in salary, Brady replaced Bledsoe for good. If JD ($900,135) continues to play significantly better than Baker ($34,017,040) has been playing, perhaps Bowles will have the courage to continue to start him.
October 13th, 2026 at 5:19 pm
I think the team has bought into Jalen. Still want to see Baker get back to 2024
October 13th, 2026 at 6:17 pm
Last season, for the first few games Baker Mayfield was in the heart of MVP discussions. After the bye, all of that went south and we went from 6-2 to finish 2-7. Apparently the major contributing factor was the absence of Mike Evans. When Evans went out on IR last season, Baker went into a tailspin that was so brutal that even Evans’ return could not bring him out of it. In the absence of Evans this season, Baker has continued to struugle miserably.
Baker’s struggles during this 2-10 stretch seem to be more mental than physical. Since he and Wirfs are such good friends, perhaps Baker can borrow his psychiatrist.
Category With Evans Without Evans
Games 39 12
Passer Rating 98.7 93.2
Yards/Game 249.0 210.4
TD/Game 1.9 1.6
INT/Game 0.8 0.6
Last years’ final 9 games (2-7)
Week Opponent Result Baker Mayfield Stats Mike Evans Status
9 BYE — — Out (injured)
10 vs Patriots L 28–23 28/43, 273 YDS, 3 TD, 0 INT Out (injured)
11 @ Bills L 44–32 16/28, 173 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT Out (injured)
12 @ Rams L 34–7 9/19, 41 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INT Out (injured)
13 vs Cardinals W 20–17 18/28, 194 YDS, 1 TD, 0 INT Out (injured)
14 vs Saints L 24–20 14/30, 122 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT Active
15 vs Falcons L 29–28 19/34, 277 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT Active
16 @ Panthers L 23–20 18/26, 145 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT Active
17 @ Dolphins L 20–17 33/44, 346 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT Active
18 vs Panthers W 16–14 16/22, 203 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT Active
October 13th, 2026 at 6:19 pm
Todd knows his ass is on the the line ! That’s a 165 million reasons he doesn’t care about the owners dumb decision! Jaylon has more upside.The players are rallying around this kid. Baker is a joke, he’s not getting any better people do you not remember the last series of the playoff loss to the lions? Baker is on what a 9 game losing streak? There will be no controversy. The coach’s azz is on the line and Jaylon is a more accurate passer than head case. Jaylon is Tampas new captain and I’m thrilled 🙂
October 13th, 2026 at 6:35 pm
@ATL
Check again, it went south before the bye, in fact it went south in the game Evans went down.
October 13th, 2026 at 6:41 pm
“Jalon Daniels played better on Thurs than Baker has played since before the bye week last year.”
You’re delusional. With the exception of two long passes to receivers that were so wide-azz open, anybody who knows how to throw a spiral could have thrown them the ball (Ebuka on one, Tez on the other) and another ten yard pass to a wide open Otton, the rest of Daniels’ passes were five air yards or less.
Yeah, he looked like an adequate backup QB against what may be the worst defense in the NFL.
Thinking this kid is better than Mayfield is wishful thinking.
October 13th, 2026 at 6:44 pm
If Bucs beat Steelers , Mayfield may still start vs Panthers the next week.
If Bucs lose the 1st game Mayfield returns, there WILL be a QB controversy.
October 13th, 2026 at 6:45 pm
Mayfield also lost wirfs ,Mauch Goedeke irving thats just the list I can remember..I know there was more
October 13th, 2026 at 6:45 pm
“…it would be fun to see how Todd Bowles handles what — in that short-term moment — would/could/should be a starting quarterback controversy.”
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Put the crack pipe down Joe. The Cowboys game was a thing of beauty. Everything fell into place for the Bucs to not only win, but to look good, to even having an UDFA QB look special.
But Daniels is not Baker. I know I am going to pay for this from all the experts in here. But I am just being realistic.
Yea, Baker sucked the games he played. But so did the O-line, the OC (he still sucks), the run game. Now, they are all starting to come together.
October 13th, 2026 at 6:47 pm
Let’s take those 3 starting linemen out and see how the kid does.Irving to
October 13th, 2026 at 6:48 pm
No QB has done as well for the Bucs when Evans is not in the game (and we’ll see when it happens in Frisco). Keep in mind, however, that the Bucs beat both the Seahawks and the 49ers without Evans last year. In fact, in the 49ers game, Baker did not have Evans, Godwin, McMillan or Bucky (Egbuka also got injured in the 2nd quarter and left the game) and they won that game easily.
The problem with this team last year is the same as this year. The offensive line is doing a horrible job pass blocking and avoiding crucial drive killing penalties. No QB can overcome that.
October 13th, 2026 at 6:50 pm
So far so good 👍
October 13th, 2026 at 6:51 pm
Steve V Says:
Personally I’d rather have Mayfield starting against Pitt anyhow
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That’s bc you are smarter than most of the ppl in here.
Don’t you realize, Daniels is the next coming of Tom Friggin Brady?!?! LMAO