TAMPA - For the first time in more than 50 seasons of Buccaneers football, an undrafted rookie quarterback will start a regular-season game, as Jalon Daniels steps under center Sunday against the Green Bay Packers at Raymond James Stadium with Baker Mayfield sidelined by a dislocated right thumb.
Mayfield is expected to miss at least three games, thrusting Daniels - signed after the draft out of Kansas - into the starting role ahead of more experienced backup Jake Browning. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET, with the game broadcast locally on FOX.
The stakes are significant: Tampa Bay enters Week Four at 0-3 for the first time since 2014, having dropped three straight one-score games, and is trying to avoid its first 0-4 start since 2013, the final year of Head Coach Greg Schiano’s tenure. Despite the losing record, the Buccaneers remain alive in the NFC South race, with 14 games remaining including all six against the 1-2 Falcons, Panthers and Saints.
Daniels impressed coaches throughout offseason workouts, training camp and preseason, leaping Browning for the primary backup role behind Mayfield. He brings mobility and arm strength to Zac Robinson’s offense, though opposing defensive coordinators will be hunting for ways to exploit his inexperience from the opening snap.
The Buccaneers’ defense has been a relative bright spot despite the losses, ranking sixth in net yards allowed per game at 282.7, second in rushing yards allowed at 76.0 per game, and fifth in red zone touchdown rate allowed at 37.50 percent. The unit has held opponents to a 35.7 percent third-down conversion rate, tied for eighth in the league. The problem has been singular, game-changing plays: a 55-yard catch-and-run score by Cleveland’s Denzel Boston in Week Two, and a 41-yard touchdown reception and an 86-yard punt return touchdown by Minnesota in last week’s 23-17 loss that produced just 230 yards and nine first downs on offense.
Running back Bucky Irving figures to be central to the game plan around Daniels, averaging more than 4.5 yards per carry for a team ranked 11th in the league in yards per carry. Green Bay’s run defense ranks 28th in the NFL, surrendering 138.7 yards per game on the ground.
The Packers arrive at 1-2 after a 35-14 prime-time loss to Atlanta last Thursday at Lambeau Field, in which Bijan Robinson ran for 213 yards from scrimmage and the Falcons totaled 242 rushing yards and 498 yards overall against a Green Bay defense that has allowed the third-most points in the league. Quarterback Jordan Love has thrown for 844 yards through three games, fourth most in the NFL, with six touchdowns. Wide receivers Christian Watson (284 yards, 16.7 yards per catch) and Matthew Golden (253 yards, 16.9 yards per catch) rank eighth and ninth in the league among receivers with at least 10 catches. Watson, Golden and tight end Tucker Kraft have combined for 643 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Green Bay’s rushing attack, meanwhile, is the league’s least productive, averaging just 48.7 yards per game and 3.04 yards per carry.
Sunday’s 1 p.m. kickoff at Raymond James Stadium will be Daniels’ first NFL regular-season start and the Buccaneers’ last chance to avoid their worst start in 13 years.