Like most people, I have become a huge Jalon Daniels fan.

The undrafted rookie quarterback quickly became a fan favorite in Tampa after his terrific play in the Bucs' first two preseason games and magnetic personality. Daniels' positivity was something the team desperately needed after starting training camp choking on the overwhelming negativity of the Baker Mayfield and Vita Vea contract disputes.

Daniels has climbed the depth chart at ludicrous speed over the last month. When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked onto the field for their opening preseason game against the New York Jets, Daniels was QB4. He was the offense's biggest star and left the field as QB3.

After another outstanding performance the following week, Daniels looked like the favorite to win the QB2 job and become Baker Mayfield's primary backup, leaping second-year QB Connor Bazelak and established veteran Jake Browning, who has earned a reputation as one of the league's better backups.

With Browning's spot looking unreachable, Daniels was a long shot to make the team. A spot on the practice squad looked like a more realistic goal. However, his talent was evident early, and many started wondering whether the rookie could convince Tampa to keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.

That turned out not to be necessary.

Despite a brutal showing against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the preseason finale, both for Daniels and the rest of the offense, the Bucs still decided to head into the regular season with Mayfield and the rookie as the only two QBs on the 53-man roster. While Daniels had absolutely played his way onto the team, it was still surprising to see the Bucs cut a backup as well-regarded as Browning.

A minor back injury suffered by Browning, which caused him to miss the Jets game, cracked the door a tiny bit for Daniels, who then kicked it open with everything he had. Daniels was Tampa's best quarterback during the preseason by a mile. His promotion wasn't handed to him. He earned it.

That doesn't make it any less risky.

No matter how well he played, the Bucs are taking an enormous risk with Daniels as their QB2.

Not to take anything away from his first two preseason outings, but many of the guys Daniels played against are now looking for work. Real NFL games against starting defenders are a different animal than preseason games against third-stringers and practice squad hopefuls.

Tampa is making a big bet that Daniels can hold on his own against competition several notches above anything he has seen so far.

For a team like the Bucs, under enormous pressure to put last year's horrible collapse behind them and return to the playoffs, potentially having to rely on an undrafted rookie QB at some point is a scary scenario. 

Adding to the risk is Baker Mayfield's long history of regularly suffering injuries. While he has never missed a game in his three seasons in Tampa, Mayfield has often had to play hurt, which was highlighted in the Netflix docuseries Quarterback.

Playing through all those injuries shows Mayfield's toughness. However, there may come a time when he isn't so lucky and suffers an injury that he cannot play through. In fact, the team publicly expressed concern over Mayfield's ability to remain healthy earlier this offseason.

Now, if Mayfield is forced to miss any time, the Bucs season may find itself in the hands of someone who has never played a snap in a regular-season NFL game.

The organization must have a tremendous amount of faith in Daniels to possibly put a burden that heavy on an undrafted rookie.

I am not questioning whether Daniels should have made the team. He 100% did. Daniels was outstanding throughout camp and the first two preseason games. It is refreshing to see performances like Daniels' actually matter. Oftentimes, an unproven player is great in these games but still gets the ax in favor of a player who was thoroughly outplayed.

Daniels earned his roster spot.

What I am questioning is Tampa's decision to release Browning. Yes, Daniels played better. But it didn't have to be one or the other. Browning's track record over years of proving himself to be a quality backup QB should also matter, especially since Daniels' rise began with Browning suffering an injury, not playing poorly.

I think Tampa should have kept both. There had to have been a roster spot somewhere on the roster than would have been better off going to Browning, who may be one of the league's most sought-after players who were cut on Sunday.

In a perfect world, Mayfield will play all 17 games once again, and none of this will affect Tampa's season. However, if Mayfield has to watch from the sidelines for any length of time and Daniels is overwhelmed against better competition, the decision to annoint an undrafted rookie QB2 may haunt the organization, cost Todd Bowles his job, and cause the franchise to watch a second straight postseason from home.