Jalon Daniels was a well-known college football name, if you had any reason to pay attention to the Kansas Jayhawks football program.
Of course, KU is a basketball school, so they didn’t have a ton of eyes on them, especially when Daniels arrived. That didn’t stop him from making it to the NFL, though, where he’s making his second start as an undrafted rookie for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Still, the odds of a high schooler committing to Kansas and then later starting a football game against the Dallas Cowboys simply aren’t that high.
It makes for a fascinating path to walk down to see how Daniels made it to this point.
Who is Jalon Daniels?
Jalon Daniels is a 23-year-old quarterback originally from Lawndale, California. He grew up there and attended Lawndale High School.
His scholarship offer list was not great. He had Kansas and Syracuse, as well as Louisiana, Middle Tennessee State, Army and Air Force.
The service academy offers speak highly about who Daniels is, but he wasn’t drawing in huge interest from gridiron powerhouses.
After originally being committed to MTSU, Daniels flipped and went to Kansas.
Daniels started six games during the 2020 season, when the Jayhawks went 0-9. It certainly wasn’t a noteworthy beginning.
He didn’t win the starting job in 2021, but an injury gave him the gig back, and led Kansas to its first-ever win over the Texas Longhorns in Austin.
The Jayhawks went 1-2 in the three games Daniels started that season, and he threw seven touchdowns.
Daniels then led Kansas to a 5-0 start in 2022 before sustaining a shoulder injury that forced him to miss four games. He ended the year by throwing for 5444 yards in the Liberty Bowl against Arkansas.
In 2023, Daniels was picked as the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, although he had a back injury that limited him to just three games (all wins).
Daniels kept returning to school, both for 2024 and 2025, and the Jayhawks went 5-7 each season. He threw for 2,531 yards on 62.1% completion rate in his final season, with 22 touchdown passes and seven interceptions.
Daniels topped 400 rushing yards in each of the three seasons that he got at least nine starts at Kansas.
Jalon Daniels 40 Time
Daniels did go to the NFL Combine, and he ran a 4.65-second 40-yard dash.
He also measured at 6-feet tall and 219 pounds.
Despite the Combine invite, Daniels wasn’t drafted. The Bucs signed him as an undrafted free agent.
Is Jalon Daniels Related to Jayden Daniels?
No, there’s no record of the Bucs’ rookie quarterback being related to the Commanders‘ third-year QB.
Their names are quite similar, yes, but that’s all.
Why is Jalon Daniels Playing QB for Bucs Over Baker Mayfield?
Mayfield is out for the second consecutive game due to an injury that he sustained in Week 3.
Daniels lost his first start in Week 4, and he’ll try to do better against the Cowboys in Week 5.
The Buccaneers entered the summer thinking that veteran Jake Browning would be the backup to Mayfield, but Daniels beat out Browning in the preseason, and so when Mayfield got hurt, Daniels got the call.
Who is Jalon Daniels? Why Kansas Great is Playing QB for Buccaneers vs. Cowboys