The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be Baker Mayfield's team, but one of the best stories coming out of training camp has been that of undrafted quarterback Jalon Daniels.
Daniels ended the preseason as the Buccaneers' No. 2 quarterback behind Mayfield, winning the job over veteran backup quarterback Jake Browning and Connor Bazelak. The competition was arguably the most surprising of the Buccaneers' training camp battles considering Daniels wasn't expected to make the roster.
The 23-year-old quarterback impressed during his preseason appearances, going 27-for-44 with 239 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. As the Buccaneers prepare for their season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1, Mayfield has taken notice of Daniels' emergence
and gave him major props. In fact, he compared some of his physical traits to those of Washington Commanders star quarterback Jayden Daniels.
"I don't know if there's necessarily a play style similar, he's really twitched up, so he's got a really quick release, like Jayden Daniels," said Mayfield in a one-on-one interview with Bucs Wire on behalf of his partnership with Sonic. "But just telling him to take the easy throws, and that's something that I consistently still try and work on. You're never gonna win the game in one throw. So if you have to check it down, check it down. But he's one of those guys that he's blessed with the talent of being able to make every single throw on the field. You try and do that all the time, but you don't always have to."
Daniels entered training camp as the fourth quarterback with practice squad aspirations in an ideal scenario. However, he proved to be the Buccaneers' most capable backup throughout training camp and the preseason.
Even Bucs general manager Jason Licht paid Daniels a major compliment after winning the backup job.
“Well, that’s an incredible accomplishment for an undrafted rookie to get that position,” Licht told reporters shortly after the 53-man roster was announced. “I can’t think in the last decade [of] another time it’s happened. But the number one thing is he earned it. It wasn’t just given to him.”
“You don’t get that honor by just being lucky or having somebody pull strings for you,” Licht added. “He earned it. Like I said, he earned the trust of his teammates, his coaches.”
As Mayfield notes, he can be a gunslinger at times, tying for the NFL lead in interceptions (16) during the 2024 season, a year in which he also ranked second in the league with 41 touchdowns. To Mayfield's credit, he lowered that interception total to 11 during the 2025 season.
The 31-year-old veteran passing down that advice to the first-year quarterback can only pay dividends for Daniels and the Buccaneers. Mayfield hasn't missed a start during his three seasons in Tampa Bay, but injuries happen all of the time in the NFL. When factoring in that the Buccaneers have little room for margin of error in a tight NFC South -- they lost the division on a tiebreaker with the Carolina Panthers last season -- all it takes is one play for Daniels to be forced into action in a pivotal game.
Unlike many NFL teams who are carrying three quarterbacks -- and some are carrying four -- Tampa Bay currently has two quarterbacks on its roster with Mayfield and Daniels.
That shows how much confidence the Buccaneers organization has in their young quarterback.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield compares Jalon Daniels to Pro Bowl QB
