Kansas Professional Athletes

The story of Kansas football in the NFL this week belongs entirely to one name — and it's one Jayhawks fans will be telling for a long time.

Jalon Daniels, the undrafted rookie out of Lawrence, made NFL history Thursday night when he guided the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 24-16 upset victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football — just his second career start. Filling in for injured starter Baker Mayfield (dislocated right thumb), Daniels completed the evening with 189 passing yards, a touchdown, and 23 rushing yards, engineering one of the more stunning upsets of the 2026 NFL season.

The historical significance of the moment was immediately noted across the league. Daniels became the first undrafted rookie quarterback to win his second career start under circumstances of this magnitude — a road win over a Cowboys team that owner Jerry Jones called "extraordinarily disappointing" in a blunt postgame assessment. Jones separately flagged his defense as "mind-boggling," a damning quote that spread quickly and underscored just how thoroughly Tampa Bay controlled the night.

Daniels credited the fast start for setting the tone. "It gave us confidence we could win the game," he told reporters after the final whistle. The sentiment was genuine — the Buccaneers came in as heavy underdogs, 0-4 and widely counted out, and left Arlington with their first win of the season and a quarterback who suddenly looks like a legitimate story.

The moment that resonated beyond the scoreboard: cameras caught Daniels sharing an emotional exchange with his mother after the game — a scene that went viral and put a human face on a remarkable underdog arc.

The win wasn't a fluke built on a favorable matchup. One week earlier, in his first career start, Daniels had shown real promise in a 17-14 loss to Green Bay, throwing for 148 yards and a score while rushing for 55 yards — despite tossing two interceptions that put the Buccaneers in a difficult position at halftime. He absorbed that lesson fast.

With Mayfield reportedly pushing to return sooner than expected from his thumb injury, Daniels' window may be brief. But he's already done enough to make Jayhawk Nation proud — and to make NFL front offices wonder how he went undrafted in the first place.

Elsewhere in the NFL

Two other Kansas alumni saw action during the week. DE Austin Booker recorded a sack for the Chicago Bears in their 23-12 win over the New York Jets on Sunday, continuing a solid early-season campaign. DE Dorance Armstrong suited up for Washington in their 30-13 loss to Indianapolis, though the Commanders' defense had a difficult afternoon against the Colts.

Former Kansas RB Devin Neal made news off the field — he was cut by the Minnesota Vikings ahead of their trip to New Orleans, a move that created an awkward near-reunion with the Saints, his former club. Roster rules complicated any potential signing, leaving Neal's NFL future uncertain heading into the week.

Kansas hasn't exactly been a perennial NFL pipeline school, but this week the Jayhawks are impossible to ignore. A franchise-first quarterback start and a fresh roster signing made it the biggest week for KU alumni in the league in recent memory.

Jalon Daniels: From UDFA to Franchise History

No team drafted Jalon Daniels in May. By Sunday, October 3, he'll be the starting quarterback for an NFL franchise — and the first undrafted rookie to ever fill that role for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The moment arrived the hard way. Baker Mayfield suffered what appeared to be a dislocated right thumb during Tampa Bay's Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and Daniels stepped in late — going 0-for-3 through the air with 9 rushing yards as the Bucs fell 23-16. Mayfield has since been ruled out for Week 4 with the confirmed thumb injury, and the keys are officially Daniels'.

Tampa Bay, searching for its first win at 0-3, will host the Green Bay Packers in what amounts to a must-win for the franchise and for head coach Todd Bowles, whose job security has been openly scrutinized. The Buccaneers' coaching staff has signaled it intends to simplify the game plan to give the 23-year-old every advantage — a reasonable concession given he's never taken an NFL snap under center as a starter.

Daniels, for his part, isn't showing any public anxiety. At his first press conference as QB1, he leaned on a line from his Kansas days that's already gone viral: "You can't be the thermometer. You have to be the thermostat." It's the kind of quote that gets clipped and shared — and it landed. Teammates are buying in too; running back Kenneth Gainwell offered a lofty comparison to a star quarterback when asked about the rookie's upside.

Whether Daniels can actually move the needle against a Packers defense is a separate question. Some analysts have urged Tampa Bay to explore a trade — Heavy Sports reported the Bucs are being urged to pursue Mason Rudolph — but for now, Daniels is the guy, and the moment is undeniably his.

Devin Neal Finds a Landing Spot in Minnesota

While Daniels was commanding the back half of the NFL news cycle, former Kansas standout running back Devin Neal quietly landed on a roster. The Vikings signed Neal after he had been released by the New Orleans Saints, giving him a second shot at sticking in the league. Neal joins a Minnesota squad that happens to be the same team that knocked Daniels and the Buccaneers around in Week 3 — a small piece of Jayhawk symmetry.

Neal was a beloved figure at Kansas, and his signing drew genuine excitement from the KU fanbase tracking alumni across the league. He'll need to carve out a role on a Vikings backfield that isn't short on bodies, but getting on the roster is the first step.

The Bigger Picture

With Daniels under center in Tampa and Neal suiting up in Minnesota, Kansas has two alumni making genuine news in Week 4 — not just occupying roster spots, but driving storylines. That's unusual territory for a program that's spent decades on the NFL's periphery. Rock Chalk, indeed.

Kansas Alumni Report | NFL | Week of Sept. 13–19, 2026

The headliner this week isn't just a comeback story — it's a collision course.

Dorance Armstrong, the former Kansas defensive end who spent his first six NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, was reinstated by the Washington Commanders on Monday after serving a one-game suspension that kept him out of Week 1. That suspension came on the heels of an already lengthy absence: Armstrong spent a significant stretch recovering from a torn ACL before even getting to the point of missing that opener. Now healthy and eligible, he's set to make his 2026 debut in Week 2 — on the road in Dallas.

The symmetry isn't lost on anyone. Armstrong was a Cowboy from 2018 through 2023, building his reputation as a rotational pass rusher before landing in Washington. Now, under defensive coordinator Daronte Jones' scheme, the Commanders are counting on him to bring something real off the edge. Per Yahoo Sports, Armstrong's skillset fits naturally into what Jones is building — and Washington's defensive front has every incentive to get him up to speed fast, given that the offense they're facing Sunday ran it through Dak Prescott and a Cowboys line Armstrong knows intimately.

The Commanders were already monitoring injury situations at linebacker (Frankie Luvu) and tight end (Chig Okonkwo) as Dallas Week began, per Sports Illustrated's Commanders Daily. Armstrong's return provides at least one clean piece of good news in an otherwise murky injury picture.

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Elsewhere Around the League

Bryce Cabeldue had a notable roster shuffle of his own. The Kansas offensive lineman was claimed off waivers by the Las Vegas Raiders after being cut by Seattle, giving the former Jayhawk guard a fresh landing spot heading into the season. The Seahawks, for their part, moved quickly to fill the void, adding a rookie seventh-round guard to their practice squad.

Austin Booker suited up for the Chicago Bears in their Week 1 blowout victory over the Carolina Panthers, 59–37 — though specific stat lines for the Kansas DE weren't available. Still, getting on the field in a dominant performance is a fine way to open a season.

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The Armstrong storyline is the one Kansas fans will want to track. A torn ACL, a suspension, and now a reunion with the franchise that drafted him — all crammed into the first two weeks of the 2026 season. If he contributes off the edge Sunday in Arlington, it will have been worth the wait. If he doesn't, Washington's pass rush questions won't disappear just because the comeback narrative is compelling.

Either way, the football gods have a sense of drama.