Jon Gruden hypes Jalon Daniels' Bucs start vs. Packers

Gruden got in front of the whiteboard for his DraftKings game preview, and he wasn't wringing his hands about a kid QB. He was fired up.

Jon Gruden

@BarstoolGruden

Jalon Daniels is starting for my Tampa Bay Buccaneers and I can't wait to see what this young man can do! @DKSports #dkpartner

Here's how it got to this point. Mayfield dislocated the thumb on his throwing hand in last Sunday's loss to Minnesota, and the team says he's out at least 3 weeks. That puts the offense in the hands of Daniels, the former Kansas quarterback who went undrafted in 2026, signed with Tampa in early May and then beat out veteran Jake Browning for the backup job in the preseason. Now he's the first rookie quarterback to start a game anywhere in the NFL this season, and the first undrafted rookie QB to ever start one for the Bucs.

Gruden calling it the opportunity of a lifetime isn't a stretch. Undrafted guys don't usually get to start in Week 4, and they almost never get to do it in front of the home crowd against a Packers team that's 1-2. Gruden has been saying 'my Buccaneers' since he took them to a Super Bowl, and you can hear how much he wants this to work. The season is already going badly enough that the Wake Up Barstool crew was ribbing him about it on Monday.

Wake Up Barstool

@wakeupbarstool

“A tale of two teams for you coach, but we'll start with the positive. Your Bucs. Oh and three.” – T-Bob

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Then it got worse. The Bucs started 0-3, the starting QB got hurt, and now a guy who was a camp signing 5 months ago is the season's last line of defense against 0-4. You could see Gruden treating it like a disaster. He's doing the opposite, which is very on brand. Every quarterback is the best kid he's ever seen, and every rookie start is a dream come true.

He might be onto something, though. Daniels was productive at Kansas and won a real preseason battle for the QB2 job. Mayfield's message to him going into his first start was simple, according to the team: just be himself. If he can make a few plays and keep the offense moving until Baker's thumb heals, Tampa still has a season.

Kickoff against Green Bay is Sunday in Tampa. If Daniels pulls it off, get ready for Gruden at full volume next Monday. If he doesn't, the Bucs are 0-4 and Gruden is going to need a lot more whiteboard.