Jeff Driskel

Jeffrey Adam Driskel (born April 23, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida and Louisiana Tech. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He made his first NFL career start with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2018.

Jeff Driskel
Driskel with the Detroit Lions in 2019
No. 9 – Denver Broncos
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1993-04-23) April 23, 1993
Oviedo, Florida
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school:Oviedo (FL) Hagerty
College:Louisiana Tech
Florida
NFL Draft:2016 / Round: 6 / Pick: 207
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
  • C–USA Newcomer of the Year (2015)
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Passing yards:2,450
TD–INT:13–8
Passer rating:79.4
Rushing yards:309
Rushing touchdowns:3
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

Driskel attended Paul J. Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Florida, where he played high school football and basketball.[1] During his high school career, he threw for 4,844 yards and 36 touchdowns. As a senior in 2010, he was the Maxwell Football Club National High School Player of the Year and the Gatorade Florida Player of the Year.[2][3] He was ranked as the best pro-style quarterback recruit in his class by Rivals.com and Scout.com.[4][5]

College career

Florida

Driskel accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Will Muschamp's Florida Gators football team. As a freshman, Driskel appeared in five games, completing 16 of 34 passes for 148 yards with two interceptions. He became the team's starter as a sophomore in 2012. He led them to an 11–2 record and a berth in the 2013 Sugar Bowl, in which Florida lost to the Louisville Cardinals.[6]

After starting three games in 2013, Driskel broke his right fibula in a game against Tennessee and missed the remainder of the season.[7] He returned from the injury in 2014 and kept his starting job to start the season but was later benched in favor of Treon Harris.[8][9]

Louisiana Tech

On January 3, 2015, Driskel was granted a release from Florida and he transferred to Louisiana Tech University.[10] In his lone season at Louisiana Tech, he passed for 4,026 yards with 27 touchdowns.[11]

College statistics
Passing
YearTeamGPCmpAttPctYardsTDsInt
2011Florida5163447.114802
2012Florida1215624563.71,646125
2013Florida3426168.947723
2014Florida911421253.81,140910
2015Louisiana Tech1327944862.34,026278
College Totals426071,00060.77,4375028

Baseball

Despite not playing baseball since high school, Driskel was selected by the Boston Red Sox with the 863rd pick of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft.[12] Driskel signed a contract,[13] but he had no plans to stop playing football.[14]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand size40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpWonderlic
6 ft 4 in
(1.93 m)		 234 lb
(106 kg)		 33 1⁄2 in
(0.85 m)		 9 3⁄4 in
(0.25 m)		4.56 s1.65 s2.71 s4.25 s7.19 s32 in
(0.81 m)		10 ft 2 in
(3.10 m)		29[15]
All values from NFL Combine,[16]

San Francisco 49ers

Driskel was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft with the 207th overall pick.[17] The 49ers previously traded tight end Vernon Davis to the Denver Broncos in exchange for the pick used to select Driskel. On May 5, 2016, the 49ers signed him to a four-year, $2.45 million contract with a signing bonus of $112,539.[18] Driskel began training camp as the No. 4 quarterback on the depth chart.[19] After a season-ending injury to Thad Lewis, Driskel competed with Christian Ponder for the third-string quarterback position. On September 3, 2016, he was waived by the 49ers.[20]

Cincinnati Bengals

Driskel was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Bengals on September 4, 2016.[21] He began the season as the Bengals' third quarterback on their depth chart behind veterans Andy Dalton and AJ McCarron.

On September 4, 2017, Driskel was placed on injured reserve.[22]

Driskel made his regular season NFL debut on October 21, 2018 in relief of Andy Dalton in the fourth quarter in the final minutes of a 45-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, completing all four of his pass attempts for 39 yards.[23] In Week 12, against the Cleveland Browns, Dalton was injured and out for the season with a thumb injury.[24] Driskel came into the game in relief and threw his first professional touchdown to Tyler Boyd. In addition, he added a late rushing touchdown in the 35–20 loss.[25] He started the last five games of the season for the Bengals. He went 1–4 and passed for 764 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions in the five starts.[26]

Driskel was placed on injured reserve on August 31, 2019.[27] He was waived from injured reserve with an injury settlement on September 11.[28]

Detroit Lions
Driskel in a game against the Washington Redskins

On September 17, 2019, Driskel was signed by the Detroit Lions.[29] On November 10, 2019, Driskel made his first start for the Lions against the Chicago Bears after Matthew Stafford was inactive due to injury.[30] He finished the Week 10 contest with 269 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception as the Lions lost 20-13.[31] In Week 11 against the Dallas Cowboys, Driskel threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown in the 35–27 loss.[32] After suffering a hamstring injury during a loss to the Washington Redskins, Driskel was placed on injured reserve on November 30, 2019.[33]

Denver Broncos

On March 27, 2020, Driskel signed a two-year contract with the Denver Broncos.[34] On September 20, 2020, Driskel came in in place of injured starting quarterback Drew Lock in a Week 2 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He passed for 256 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in relief in the 26–21 loss.[35] Driskel made his first start as a Bronco in Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During the game, Driskel threw for 176 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception before being benched in the fourth quarter of the 28–10 loss.[36] On November 26, 2020, Driskel was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list after testing positive for the virus.[37] He and the other three quarterbacks on the Broncos roster were fined by the team for violating COVID-19 protocols.[38] Driskel was activated from the COVID-19 list on December 16, 2020.[39]

NFL statistics
Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacked Fumbles
GPGSCompAttPctYdsAvgTDIntRateAttYdsAvgTDSckSckYFumLost
2018CIN 9510517659.71,0035.76282.2251305.221612241
2019DET 336210559.06856.54475.3221516.91114610
2020DEN 31356454.74326.83278.46284.70119800
Career 15920234558.62,1206.213879.4533095.833826651

References
  1. "Jeff Driskel, Hagerty , Dual-Threat Quarterback". 247Sports. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  2. "Jeff Driskel Maxwell Football Club National High School Player of the Year". Maxwell Football Club. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  3. "Driskel named state player of the year". The Gainesville Sun. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  4. "Rivals.com". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  5. "Recruiting Football Team News, Scout". recruiting.scout.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2011.
  6. DiRocco, Michael. "Florida names QB Jeff Driskel starter". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  7. Harry, Chris. "Gators Lose Driskel for Season; Teammates Disappointed for Junior Signal-Caller". Gator Zone. Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  8. Thompson, Edgar (November 11, 2014). "Gators QB Jeff Driskel embraces new role with team". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  9. "Florida benches QB Jeff Driskel, will start freshman Treon Harris against Georgia next week". FOX News. Associated Press. October 22, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  10. "Ex-Gators QB Driskel transfers to La. Tech".
  11. "Jeff Driskel 2015 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  12. "Page Not Found - Orlando Sentinel". Cite uses generic title (help)
  13. DiRocco, Michael. "Jeff Driskel of Florida Gators signs contract with Boston Red Sox". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  14. Sox Prospects.com. Retrieved on May 18, 2015.
  15. McGinn, Bob (April 20, 2016). "Rating the NFL draft prospects: Quarterbacks". JSOnline.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  16. "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Jeff Driskel". National Football League.
  17. "2016 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  18. "Spotrac.com: Jeff Driskel contract". Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  19. Florio, Mike (June 12, 2016). "Jeff Driskel, future 49ers starting quarterback?". profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  20. "49ers Release 20 Players, Announce Other Roster Moves". 49ers.com. September 3, 2016. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017.
  21. "Bengals claim quarterback Jeff Driskel off waivers from SF". foxsports.com. September 4, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  22. "Bengals Player Moves: Driskel to IR, Toner and Shelton to practice squad". Bengals.com. September 4, 2017. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017.
  23. Sconzo, Alyssa (October 22, 2018). "Bengals vs. Chiefs: Score, results, highlights from Kansas City's win". www.sportingnews.com. Sporting News.
  24. "Bengals place Andy Dalton on injured reserve". SI.com. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  25. "Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals - November 25th, 2018". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  26. "Jeff Driskel 2018 Game Log (Weeks 13–17)". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  27. "Bengals Announce 53-Man Roster". Bengals.com. August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  28. "Bengals Waive Jeff Driskel". Bengals.com. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  29. "Lions sign free agent QB Jeff Driskel". DetroitLions.com. September 17, 2019.
  30. Rapoport, Ian. "Matthew Stafford (back/hip) out vs. Bears; Jeff Driskel to start". NFL.com. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  31. "Trubisky, Bears hang on to beat Lions 20-13 as Stafford sits". www.espn.com. Associated Press. November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  32. "Cowboys get huge day from Prescott, beat Lions 35-27". www.espn.com. Associated Press. November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  33. "Lions add Kyle Sloter to QB mix, place Jeff Driskel on IR". The Detroit News. November 30, 2019.
  34. DiLalla, Aric (March 26, 2020). "QB Jeff Driskel prepared to help Drew Lock, Broncos win games". DenverBroncos.com.
  35. "Denver Broncos at Pittsburgh Steelers - September 20th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  36. "Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Denver Broncos - September 27th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  37. "Fangio: QB Jeff Driskel to be placed on Reserve/COVID-19 list". www.denverbroncos.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  38. Alper, Josh (December 2, 2020). "Broncos fined quarterbacks for COVID-19 protocol violations". NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  39. DiLalla, Aric (December 16, 2020). "Broncos sign CB Parnell Motley off 49ers' practice squad, activate Jeff Driskel from Reserve/COVID-19 list". DenverBroncos.com. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
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