TAMPA - Undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels will attempt to become the first undrafted rookie signal-caller in Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise history to earn a starting win when the team hosts the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football, facing a receiving corps that combined for more than 2,500 yards in 2025.
Daniels made his first NFL start against the Green Bay Packers for injured Baker Mayfield, completing 19 of 27 passes for 148 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while adding 55 rushing yards. Tampa Bay managed just 275 total yards of offense in that outing.
Now the rookie faces a stiffer test. CeeDee Lamb, Dallas’s No. 1 target, leads the Cowboys this season with 37 receptions, 498 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. George Pickens lines up opposite him, and both receivers cleared 1,000 yards in 2025 - Pickens with 1,429 and Lamb with 1,077.
Buccaneers safety Tykee Smith said alignment and communication will be the secondary’s top priorities against the Dallas wideouts. “The receivers present a pretty good challenge with 88 and 3 on the outside and they do a variety of different things with them and they line them up at different spots to create mismatches, so the biggest thing is making sure that we are lined up, getting the call and then communication,” Smith said.
Smith also flagged the threat posed by Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who has thrown for 1,065 yards and eight touchdowns through four games in 2026, posting a 105.0 passer rating. Prescott surpassed Tony Romo for the most passing yards in Cowboys franchise history last season and has guided Dallas to more than 30 points in each of the last three games. “I think him being able to see what you are in and then checking to the best place, I think we have to do a real good job of disguising and not letting him see what we are in,” Smith said.
Daniels said he has drawn on Mayfield’s example to develop the mental steadiness required at the position. “I think his composure through every single situation, whether it is good or bad, whether things are going your way or things are not going your way, he has continued to be able to stay the same person and has been resilient through it all,” Daniels said. “To be able to see that type of composure in front of you, it makes you say, ‘Alright, bet. I have to have that same type of composure.’ I think that helped me be able to go in there and whatever bad play happened, flush that down the drain and to just continue to play football.”
Kickoff for Thursday Night Football between the Buccaneers and Cowboys is scheduled for this Thursday.