Baker Mayfield is currently out for a couple of weeks after suffering a dislocated thumb, going down in another disappointing loss for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3. Mayfield was so poor through the first three weeks that many Bucs fans felt that there was nowhere to go but up for Jalon Daniels, even if he is a rookie undrafted free agent quarterback.
Like Mayfield, Daniels struggled in his NFL debut and the Bucs lost their latest game in the NFC North tour, but they weren't any further off from winning either in a 17-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Buccaneers fans had to notice how much trouble Daniels had under center when the offensive line in front of him collapsed and struggled to pick up even simple blitzes, which is a huge disappointment since the offensive line was supposed to be a big strength of the team.
And it's hard to single out any one player for struggling the most, because the Bucs' pass protection is reeling, and Zac Robinson appears to be a large part of the equation.
Buccaneers offensive line didn't do Jalon Daniels and favors
Baker Mayfield got a lot of criticism for the sacks he was taking this season -- his 13 sacks taken led the NFL -- and many were wondering if he was the reason why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense was looking worse. After all, he does have a tendency to run around like a headless chicken too much instead of stepping up in the pocket or feeling it out, and he could get the ball out quicker.
But Jalon Daniels showed great escapability and did just about all he could even in his first NFL start, firing the ball out of the pocket as quickly as he could. Yet that wasn't enough to help the Buccaneers avoid the wrath of the Green Bay Packers defense, with Daniels getting sacked three times and absorbing seven QB hits.
And I think the bigger problem than even just the number of hits or sacks that Daniels had to take on Sunday against Green Bay was the fact that when the pressure came, it came so fast that it was unavoidable. Baker Mayfield got blamed for taking too many hits, but the Buccaneers offensive line showed us that it doesn't matter what the quarterback does or who it is; it's open season out here.
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