Bishop Moore’s Ben DeLuca, Hagerty’s Jeff Driskell survive 80-man NFL rosters – Reading Eagle

It may have come as a surprise to many NFL insiders, but hardly to Ben DeLuca. The former Bishop Moore standout guard survived the penultimate round of cuts Tuesday to earn a spot on the Los Angeles Chargers’ 80-man roster.

NFL teams have until Saturday to complete trimming their rosters to the 53-player season limit. DeLuca is still trending in the middle of the pack for the next round of cuts.

DeLuca has always had high expectations for himself, even when he was “that skinny little kid” as a sophomore at Bishop Moore in 2013. He’s no longer skinny at 6-foot-1 and 202 pounds, and he’ll be a backup at strong safety with the Chargers this season.

Also left on the roster, though not as surprising to most, are former Hagerty High star quarterback Jeff Driskel, who is still fighting for starting reps with the Houston Texans, and incumbent starter Davis Mills, who had a decent rookie season last year.

Driskel, who played at Florida and finished his college career with success at Louisiana Tech, is on his fourth NFL roster. He also spent last season in Houston, seeing limited action. The gap between Mills and Driskel appears to have narrowed, but Texans management is very pleased with young Mills.

Driskel spent time in Cincinnati, Detroit and Denver. He appeared in 16 NFL games, including nine starts, and threw for 2,120 yards, 13 touchdowns and 8 interceptions on 202-of-345 passing.

The surprising number for Driskel is that he was sacked 38 times, which is unusual for a quarterback who has always been such a talented runner. His experience and confidence allow him to make better decisions when holding on to the football too long and shying away from pressure more often.

DeLuca was called up to the Chargers lineup last December and played in three games. At the time, he signed a contract worth US$885,000.

The Texans currently have three quarterbacks on the roster. Kyle Allen entered the COVID protocol and will not be available for the season opener if he remains with the team.

There were some not-so-lucky players on Tuesday who didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet.

It appeared that former Timber Creek and FSU star Jacques Patrick could make the roster for the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals, but was denied. He will likely earn a spot on the Bengals practice squad unless another team claims him through the waiver process.

Also absent were two former UCF forwards Wyatt Miller and Cole Schneider and former South Sumter High and Colorado linebacker Carson Wells.

The San Francisco 49ers placed UCF sixth-round pick Kalia Davis on the Physically Unable to Perform list, forcing him to miss the team’s first four games.

Former post-Soviet receiver Oden Tate was waived by the Atlanta Falcons, while the New York Jets released former Florida Gators kicker Eddie Pineiro. Former UF cornerback Duke Dawson has been placed on injured reserve by the Carolina Panthers.

This story originated in orlandosentinel.com. Chris Hayes is a senior sportswriter covering high school football, college football and recruiting, the NFL and the Orlando Magic for the Sentinel. It can be reached at the address chays@orlandosentinel.com.

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