Jeff Driskel

Jeffrey Matthew Driskel (born April 23, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL).

In 2010, Driskel was selected as a member of the Elite 11 quarterback competition, finishing first among quarterbacks and awarded MVP.

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.

He was ranked as the best pro-style quarterback recruit in his class by Rivals.com and Scout.com.

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.

After starting three games in 2013, Driskel broke his right fibula in a game against Tennessee and missed the remainder of the season.

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.

Driskel signed a contract, but he had no plans to stop playing football.

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.

On January 3, 2015, Driskel was granted a release from Florida and he transferred to Louisiana Tech University.

In his lone season at Louisiana Tech, he passed for 4,026 yards with 27 touchdowns.

He played college football at Florida, before transferring to Louisiana Tech, and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

Waived by the 49ers, he joined the Cincinnati Bengals, where he was the third-string quarterback.

Driskel was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft with the 207th overall pick.

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.

Driskel began training camp as the No. 4 quarterback on the depth chart.

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.

Driskel was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Bengals on September 4, 2016.

He began the season as the Bengals' third quarterback on their depth chart behind veterans Andy Dalton and A. J. McCarron.

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

He began the 2018 season as backup to Andy Dalton, and following an injury to Dalton, he started the last five games of the season.

He then went on to be the backup for the Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos, in which he started three games with the Lions and one for the Broncos.

In 2021, Driskel signed for the Houston Texans, and he converted from quarterback to tight end, but ultimately went back to quarterback for the 2022 season.

Driskel attended Paul J. Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Florida, where he played high school football and basketball.

During his high school career, he threw for 4,844 yards and 36 touchdowns.

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.

In Week 12, against the Cleveland Browns, Dalton was injured and out for the season with a thumb injury.

Driskel came into the game in relief and threw his first professional touchdown to Tyler Boyd.

He added a late rushing touchdown in the 35–20 loss.

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.

Driskel was placed on injured reserve on August 31, 2019.

He was waived from injured reserve with an injury settlement on September 11.

On September 17, 2019, Driskel was signed by the Detroit Lions.

On November 10, 2019, Driskel made his first start for the Lions against the Chicago Bears after Matthew Stafford was inactive due to injury.