Baker Mayfield has had a rough start to the 2026 season.
Not only did Mayfield fail to lead his team to a single victory in each of his four starts this year, but his individual performance has predominantly been defined by turnovers, poor accuracy and a lack of poise in the pocket. To make matters worse, Mayfield suffered a brutal dislocation of his right thumb in the final moments of his team's home loss to the Cleveland Browns a few weeks ago, forcing him to the sidelines for an undetermined period of time.
Undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, who surprisingly beat out veteran free agent signing Jake Browning for the backup QB job in training camp, has been tasked with holding down the fort after Mayfield's injury. And that's exactly what he's done.
After a narrow defeat at the hands of the Green Bay Packers in his first NFL game, Daniels showed out in Dallas on Thursday Night Football in Week 2, leading his team to an impressive and improbable victory against one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL.
Meanwhile, although he's been very supportive of Daniels, Mayfield has been dead set on returning to the lineup as soon as possible. In fact, he recently resumed throwing in hopes of fast-tracking his path back onto the field.
But would that really be good for the team?
At least one member of the Buccaneers Super Bowl winning team in 2020 doesn't think so.
Fournette Believes Bucs Should Start Daniels Over Mayfield
On a recent episode of his podcast hosted with Jarvis Landry, 4th and South, Fournette had quite a hot take about the Bucs' current quarterback situation.
"I think, me personally, Jalon Daniels is the perfect fit for the Bucs right now," Fournette said. "They're winning! When Baker was back there, they weren't winning nothing. So I think it was a blessing and a curse. I'm not wishing nobody gets hurt, but at the same time, he's giving them more opportunity to win."
Fournette believes that Daniels is the team's best option to win right now.
"And I'm not saying Jalon's decision-making is better than Baker," he said. "To me it's even, because Baker throws picks, he fumbles, he does a lot. But at the end of the day, what can you do for me now? They're winning. I say keep Daniels in until we figure it out. Yes, Baker's got $100 million contract, but damn that, we want to win, coach."
— 4th and South (@4thAndSouthPod) October 15, 2026
Fournette is certainly entitled to his opinion. That being said, as good as Daniels looked last week against the Cowboys and as bad as Mayfield looked in the first month of the season, the Buccaneers are going to be at their best for a longer period of time with Mayfield under center.
Not only that, but there isn't a chance that the Buccaneers would even consider relegating a healthy Mayfield to the bench because of the massive contract they awarded him just over a month ago.
The Buccaneers believe in Mayfield. And with every positive performance they get out of Daniels, their belief in him will continue to increase as well. But this is Mayfield's team, and the Bucs are prepared to sink or swim with him as the captain of their ship.
At least for now.
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