The Detroit Lions have been known for having serviceable backups in the past decade or so. Those backups mainly being Shaun Hill and Drew Stanton. In the early stint of Matthew Stafford’s career, we saw a lot from Hill and Stanton. Stafford seemed to always catch a case of the injury bug year in and year out. While these backups by no means put Detroit in playoff contention, they kept them from sheer embarrassment. As the years went by though, Stafford bulked up. All of the sudden, it seemed like there was no need for a backup. Stafford became less injury-prone, not missing a snap in 136 games. But that all came to an end two weeks ago, when the gunslinger suffered a back injury too serious to play through. This forced the Lions to start Jeff Driskel, a long-term backup that was brought in this past offseason.
College Career
Jeff Driskel’s college career was very up and down to say the least. After only appearing in five games his freshman year in 2011, Driskel had himself a pretty solid sophomore campaign. He threw for over 1600 yards with a 63.7 completion percentage. Driskel accompanied that with 12 touchdown passes and only five interceptions. He also ran for over 400 yards along with 4 TD’s. Driskel led the Gators to an 11-2 record, losing to Teddy Bridgewater and the Louisville Cardinals in the Sugar Bowl. Standing at 6’4″ 230lbs, many compared him to a faster and agile Tim Tebow. But sadly, Driskel never got a chance to build on his sophomore success. Three games into his junior year, he broke his right fibula against rival Tennessee and missed the remainder of the season.
His senior season was set to be his bounce-back year. If he had a good enough season, going pro was potentially an option for him. But as everyone knows, it’s all fun and games until you set foot on the field. Driskel’s senior campaign is one that he would probably like to forget. He appeared in 9 games before getting benched midway through the season for true freshman Treon Harris. Driskel finished the season with 1140 passing yards, 53.8 completion percentage, 9 passing TD’s, and a whopping 10 interceptions. Florida finished the season 7-5.
New Beginnings
After the 2014 season, it was clear that Florida was going in another direction at the QB position. With one year of eligibility left due to a medical redshirt, Driskel decided to transfer from Florida. He ended up landing at Louisiana Tech University. This decision turned out to be for the better as Driskel had the best season of his college career. He threw for over 4000 yards along with 27 TD’s and only eight interceptions. He lead LTU to a 9-4 record, along with a 47-28 win over Arkansas State in the New Mexico Bowl. In his 5-year college career, Driskel finished with a total of 7437 passing yards, 50 TD’s and 28 interceptions. On the ground, he tallied a total of 972 yards with 14 TD’s and 3.1 yards per carry.
Pro Career
Despite a strong season at LTU, Driskel slipped all the way to the 6th round where he was picked by the San Francisco 49ers. The odds were stacked against him in training camp, starting out as the 4th QB on the roster. He was eventually waived by the 49ers. After a short three-year stint in Cincinnati, Driskel ended up landing in Detroit. With him being a backup, no one really noted this signing by the Lions, and for good reason. In recent years, Detroit has struggled to find a long-term backup. Former University of Michigan QB, Jake Rudock, had a short tenure. The Lions flirted with names like David Fales and Matt Cassel, even current XFL QB Connor Cook. With Cook being a Michigan State alumni, this excited a lot of Lions fans. Ultimately, nothing came of his signing as he exited Detroit as quickly as he came in.
Now We’re Here
Fast-forward to now, with Driskel at the helm and Stafford being out potentially for the season. Driskel made his first start against the Chicago Bears on the road on November 10th. It was definitely not the most ideal place to have your honeymoon start, but the man wasn’t too shabby. Now, don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely no Matthew Stafford. Driskel went 27/46 with 269 yards, along with a touchdown and an interception. He was the leading rusher for Detroit, having five carries for 37 yards. But for being named the starter the day of the game, it’s remarkable how he wasn’t a liability. The Lions lost 20-13, but Driskel opened the eyes of some Lions fans for sure.
This past weekend, Driskel got the start once again with Stafford being out for the 2nd straight week, this time, against Dallas. With a full week of practice under his belt, Driskel really showed up. He went 15/26 for 209 yards with 2 TD’s and zero interceptions. What surprised many was his mobility. He ran the ball 8 times for 51 yards and a touchdown, with some coming late in the game when the Lions needed them most. Despite a strong offensive performance, once again, the defense was swiss cheese. Driskel couldn’t summon his inner-Stafford and the Lions lost 35-27 despite a last chance effort to make the comeback.
Driskel…the Future?
It’s only been two games, so I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but Driskel has looked pretty good in his first two starts in Detroit. Even though the Lions dropped both games with him at the helm, it’s not all Bad News Bears. He’s shown that he can keep Detroit in games and give them a chance to win. For the most part, he’s making the right decisions. He throws a pretty good ball too. There’s a sneaky athleticism about him that goes unnoticed by many. He’s deceptively fast with his 4.56 40-yard dash. His pocket sense has been good, which is key considering the O-Line he’s standing behind. Having that pocket IQ gives him the ability to extend plays, whether it’s finding an open man downfield, or tucking the ball and running himself.
What’s the future for Jeff Driskel? No one really knows. So far, he’s done his best to keep the boat upright. With the timetable for Stafford being unknown, all Driskel can do is just try to win games. His main goal should be to keep the team treading water until Stafford comes back, IF he comes back that is. At the time of writing this, there have been reports that the Lions are frontrunners to sign Colin Kaepernick, so we’ll see if anything comes of that. But right now, Driskel, long-term backup, has a supreme opportunity here in Detroit, he just has to go out there and take it.
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