Jalon Daniels Accepts (Some) Blame For Offensive Line Struggles
October 7th, 2026
Quarterback Jalon Daniels.
No, the Bucs offensive line didn’t look like itself Sunday facing Green Bay.
In fact, they haven’t looked right all year. Joe is more inclined to blame that on whatever crap scheme offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has hatched.
Joe doesn’t believe in coincidences in football. And it’s hard for Joe to swallow that in about 16-18 months, since the line last played together, all of a sudden four offensive linemen turned to crap right at the same time. One, maybe two, OK. But all four??? (Tristan Wirfs, have a less than ideal Week 1, was back to his normal dominant self).
What’s the difference between these guys playing together healthy in January 2025 and the start of this season? The offensive coordinator.
On the final drive against the Packers, Bucs quarterback Jalon Daniels was under duress virtually each play on that drive.
Yesterday in his weekly press conference, Daniels said blame him. He could have done better seeing the blitz pre-snap and sliding protection over to protect his own rear end.
“There’s an opportunity for me to be able to flip the protection and be able to slide it that way, knowing that they brought that same exact look,” Daniels explained. “I think that being able to see, like I said, see that live and being able to go through that, you obviously hear it a lot, you see Baker [Mayfield] go through it, but until you’re actually the one getting those live reps, it’s a lot easier said than done until you’re actually out there doing it.
“The fact that I was able to see that and be able to get that learning opportunity for me, I treat that as a lesson.”
And this is the drawback of leaning on an undrafted rookie. It’s all new to him. These types of issues will turn up. It’s called a learning experience.
Joe sure hopes Daniels and the line have worked out enough issues to give Dallas a game tomorrow night.
October 7th, 2026 at 9:41 am
On some teams the Center calls out the protection. Shouldn’t the Bucs be doing that for their rookie QB making his NFL debut? Isn’t that why we got a smart Duke grad at Center?
October 7th, 2026 at 9:43 am
He doesn’t have to accept responsibility. That’s both Jalon and Baker under pressure constantly and they must try to make something out of nothing. Even if a receivers do manage to get open, how can they see them while running for their lives?
October 7th, 2026 at 9:46 am
Of course…
It’s all on the rookie UDFA QB.
Come on man!
Just admit it for once – Our O-line just sucks right now.
It is absolutely horrible – they are getting whipped one on one and getting whipped with simple stunts and blitzes.
Cody is a BUST.
Barton is a BUST at Center.
Goedeke is overpaid and bad right now.
Bredeson is a bad NFL OG right now.
Our GM should also walk the plank for this mess and our GM also hired the OC.
STOP IT!
October 7th, 2026 at 9:49 am
The center should see the blitz even if it isn’t his responsibility. Especially when they run the EXACT same play twice in a row. Fool me once shame on me fool me twice I’m an idiot. Their defensive coordinator must have been in the box laughing his A$$ off.
October 7th, 2026 at 9:51 am
How about Stop trying to fix what is not broken Zac. You came in here and were blessed with one of the better lines in football and what did you do? Stuck your knarly finger right in the batter and change the scheme. Some people cannot help themselves, they have to screw with something to try to make it their own. Good luck Todd, maybe we can grab a coffee sometimes when you have more free time, hopefully sooner than later.
October 7th, 2026 at 9:53 am
QBs has final say on protection calls, it’s as simple as Daniels not having the experience with this team adjusting to what he sees upfront pre-snap. Mental gaff that resulted in protection not being slid to where the alignment didn’t account for what ended up being a free rusher. Improvement will come with more reps, but he’s still got plenty to learn reading his keys pre-snap.
October 7th, 2026 at 10:14 am
Apparently it’s only the other teams that are good at seeing that the same play is going to be repeated and then can blow it up. For us we treat each play as a new experience and don’t build on anything we’ve seen throughout the the game.
I think one of the biggest disappointments over Todd’s career among the many is that he never makes any important in game adjustments. Other than the Chargers win a couple years ago I cannot remember another game where I saw the defense play any differently the second half of the game than they did the first.
I keep seeing people talk about statistics and how the Bucs were really good we held the Packers to two out of 10 on third down which is a great statistic. What they failed to mention in that same conversation is that the Packers were also three out of three on fourth down so technically on those 10 3rd down opportunities ultimately five of them resulted in first downs.
Nothing is more demoralizing than having a team start at first in 20 against your defense knowing that they’re going to pick up the first
October 7th, 2026 at 10:15 am
flip Bredenson to Center and Barton to LG and i can guarantee you the line will play better….
Mauch hasnt gained full strength in his knee just yet…he has zero explosiveness or power in his legs….he wont return to normal until the middle of next year….which is why i was banging the drum for Kadyn Proctor and then selecting C. Howell or R Mason Thomas in the 2nd round….all water under the bridge now
but ultimately the issue is Zac
GO BUCS!!!!!
October 7th, 2026 at 10:22 am
It’s October and the OL hasn’t adjusted and isn’t comfortable in the new blocking scheme=bad idea. Flipping Barton and Bredeson has worked to stabilize things in the past.
October 7th, 2026 at 10:29 am
You gotta protect your QB to win. I don’t care whether that’s Baker or Daniels or Brady…it’s just reality.
October 7th, 2026 at 10:30 am
When you’re pinning all of your hopes on a UDFA rookie QB
You must have a lot of faith in him
You’re willing to risk your job, your career
They must see a lot in Jalon Daniels
And I’m ok with it, l believe he will be around for a very long time
Maybe not as a starter, but the guy has a high football IQ
October 7th, 2026 at 10:31 am
Baker had no better luck, turned it over, and was sacked just as much. To sum it up with the Bucs, this is a cluster f@ck!
October 7th, 2026 at 10:43 am
Well, Thursday we’ll see if Jalon learns from his mistakes. QB always takes the heat, but this year it’s the OC not putting his players in position to win. I don’t know if I can take another year of these inept coaches and GM.
Time for the Glazier’s to clean house and realize the once window of opportunity is now closed.
October 7th, 2026 at 10:47 am
Yes Daniels being a good qb and standing up for his o line. Pro job by him. However, the line has experience and Barton should have made those calls. The O Line for whatever reason except Wirfs is not playing. They are very consistent. They are playing poorly throughout the games every week. Mayfield, Daniels same result . Bowls does the same for his defense players all the time.
We all see this team has major issues offense , defense. The defense is getting a little better each game, while the offense is going backwards. Presently I don’t see them beating anyone.
Say what you will about a poor division. However, both Car. and Atl are vastly improved, NO close behind. The Bucs trending backwards. This team could actually go 0 and 17 at this moment
October 7th, 2026 at 10:48 am
The entire oline and WRs didn’t all forget how to play football and suck.
Not buying it. This is 100% falls on this fraud of an OC.
October 7th, 2026 at 10:59 am
Truth be known……JD didn’t look any worse than Baker……having to scramble on most plays with poor protection…..WRs not getting open…..failing with the final drive…..red zone impotence….
JD-Baker……one in the same
October 7th, 2026 at 11:04 am
Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of his play calling, Canales’ most recent jobs have been: fix Geno Smith, fix Mayfield and fix Young. He has done all three. Coen’s jobs have been: maximize Mayfield and maximize Lawrence. He has done both.
Has the current OC (or HC) shown similar results?
October 7th, 2026 at 11:04 am
0-5
October 7th, 2026 at 11:09 am
I think Jason Licht has done a good job bringing in talent for this team, however having an undrafted rookie QB as the backup was downright stupid. I think every Bucs fan was holding their breath in hopes Mayfield didn’t get hurt this year. We absolutely had the opportunity to bring in a backup with experience and could have put Daniel’s on the practice squad giving him a chance to learn. From what we have seen last week the Cowboys are going to blitz Daniel’s as soon as he gets off the bus and won’t stop until he gets back on.
October 7th, 2026 at 11:27 am
Robinson is not very good at calling plays. The game plan seems to be non existent! The O-Line has not played well for 60 minutes especially when the game is on the line! The QBs are under duress for most of the game. Until the aforementioned get it together, the Bucs will not win many games! Can they improve? No one really knows!!
October 7th, 2026 at 11:44 am
The GM thought an undrafted free agent rookie was the best person to back up his $165 million dollar mid QB.
That’s work place malpractice at its finest. Not many GM’s survive that.
Once we’re 0-6 maybe the Glazers will awake from their KitKat induced coma.
They will need to swing for the fences on the next HC. Who will likely want his own GM.
Bud Licht is looking right down the barrel of his last year in Tampa.
October 7th, 2026 at 11:46 am
Bottom line: the Bucs are a bad team and the obvious changes should be made sooner than later.
October 7th, 2026 at 12:00 pm
@Marine Buc
Pretty much OC is always the fall guy. Maybe a few games its scheme but when you are getting beat no matter who you are playing theres some talent level issues or last year juggling act (remember the shuffling) put everyone off
October 7th, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Now that’s accountability. Bowel could stand to take a lesson from the rookie UDFA QB.
October 7th, 2026 at 12:12 pm
And this is the drawback of leaning on an undrafted rookie. It’s all new to him.
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Experience doesn’t seem to have been helping Baker.
October 7th, 2026 at 12:32 pm
Without the Arians years with Brady, Licht has been a complete failure. Enough.
October 7th, 2026 at 12:40 pm
@ Hodad
Yep…
October 7th, 2026 at 12:59 pm
The eagles are trading Pro Bowl canter Cam Jurgens to Baltimore. Why couldn’t we have done that?
October 7th, 2026 at 12:59 pm
Joe Bob Pigskin … ‘Bottom line: the Bucs are a bad team and the obvious changes should be made sooner than later.’
I agree with you Joe Bob, but you’ve gotta have something to change to, and we don’t. I don’t see a single assistant coach on our coaching staff who could replace Bowles as DC and Robinson as OC AND get any better results.
This season is looking like a replay of 2014 when we went 2-14 and got the #1 pick in the 2015 draft. Our defense surrendered 410 total pts in 16 games … 25.6 PPG. But 175 pts were surrendered in only 4 games. In the other 12 games, our defense gave up 235 pts … 19.6 PPG average. We had a lot of close, relatively low-scoring losses. Whoopee, they were still losses.
Our offense that year scored only 277 pts total … 17.3 PPG average. But in reality our defense scored 3 TD on Pick-6s, so the offense really only scored 256 pts … 16 PPG. It was so bad that in 12 games our offense scored only 17 pts or less (and we lost ALL of those). Interestingly, our kicker scored 91 pts that year and our 2014 rookie WR, Mike Evans, scored 72 pts. Everyone else on the offense COMBINED only scored 93 pts. And our prize was Jameis Winston.
Lovie’s OC that year was Jeff Tedford, and his DC was Leslie Frazier. Tedford had a medical issue in Aug 2014 and never called a play; Marcus Arroyo took over for him (didn’t work out well). He was replaced the next year by Dirk Koetter. Leslie Frazier was replaced during the next year by Lovie Smith. That didn’t work out well either.
So far this year our offense is averaging 19 PPG, and our defense is surrendering 24 PPG. Defense has kept us ‘hanging around’ in the games, but that’s about it. Seeing too many similarities to 2014. When Tedford suffered his heart issues in Aug 2014, we really had no one on staff to take his place … and we paid for it.
October 7th, 2026 at 1:12 pm
Yeah, it’s Zack Robinson’s fault the offensive line sucks.
Except that the offensive line sucked last year. When starters weren’t sucking, because they were hurt- then the backups sucked.
Have you ever seen a good offensive line, with all the backups suck?
No. You haven’t.
Because a good GM has good offensive line starters AND backups
And a good Coaching staff has the line working together. Starters AND backups.
What the Bucs have, Is a GM incapable of building an Offensive OR Defensive line.
He has gathered crappy guards and centers. Backup tackles are crappy too!.
Then, our coaching staff said, we can take those crappy players- and make them even Crappier!
Add in lousy WRs, Bad TEs, pathetic LBers, A Horrible OC, annnnnd-
Ladies and Gentlemen-The 2026 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
October 7th, 2026 at 1:24 pm
Concur, DR. That year was even more discouraging than this year (so far..it can always get worse). It took Tom Brady to clear the stench of losing from the locker room and instill confidence that the team WILL win – no matter what. My biggest fear is that the collective confidence has been diluted. Hopefully, there is some still left. If not, we are in real trouble of turning back into “same ole sorry a** Bucs” of yesteryear.
*Quote from Rams player on NFL Films back in early 90’s. Cannot remember his name.