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The Houston Texans are determining different ways to utilize Jeff Driskel.
Driskel, who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round in 2016 from Louisiana Tech, switched over to tight end. The switch crowds the tight end room for Houston, but also gives the Texans another athlete for special teams.
Special teams coordinator Frank Ross likes the possibility of using Driskel’s size at 6-4, 235 pounds to help out with his special teams units.
“Guy can jump, run,” Ross said. “You know, raw obviously. He has not been the hitter, he’s been at quarterback for so long. He’s trying to avoid as much as possible, now we are going to train him in our techniques. But again, every player here is a football player first and it’s nice to have a guy who’s willing to do anything whether it’s a positional change or whether he’s asked to do a role that would be a little bit foreign to him within a core player already.”
The path Driskel is taking is one reminiscent of former Texans quarterback Joe Webb. The former Minnesota Vikings 2010 sixth-round pick from UAB spent the 2018 season with Houston, playing predominantly on special teams. Although Webb was an emergency quarterback and played some receiver, catching two passes for 13 yards among his 35 offensive snaps, the 6-4, 231-pounder played 312 snaps on special teams.
Although Webb made his transition earlier in his career with the Vikings in 2012, he proved that going from avoiding hits to delivering hits can be done.
Said Ross: “Definitely going to continue to work with him and every player that we have. Here’s the thing about Jeff. He’s smart, he’s tough and of course, he’s physically gifted. So, we’ll see where we can take it.”
Driskel has not seen any playing time in 2021 as Tyrod Taylor and Davis Mills have taken all the snaps at quarterback.