It could have come as a shock to many NFL insiders, however not more likely to Ben DeLuca. The previous Bishop Moore standout security survived the next-to-last spherical of cuts Tuesday to earn a spot on the Los Angeles Chargers 80-man roster.
NFL groups have till Aug. 30 to complete trimming their rosters to the season restrict of 53 gamers. DeLuca continues to be trending in the course of the pack for the subsequent spherical of cuts.
DeLuca has all the time had excessive expectations for himself, even when he was “that scrawny little child” as a sophomore at Bishop Moore in 2013. He’s not scrawny at 6-foot-1, 202 kilos and he’ll be a backup at robust security with the Chargers this season.
Additionally remaining on a roster, though not as shocking to most, was former Hagerty Excessive star quarterback Jeff Driskel, who continues to be vying for beginning reps with the Houston Texans and incumbent starter Davis Mills, who had an honest rookie season final 12 months.
Driskel, who performed at Florida and completed his faculty profession with a flurry at Louisiana Tech, is on his fourth NFL roster. He additionally spent final season in Houston, seeing restricted motion. The hole between Mills and Driskel appears to have narrowed, however Texans administration may be very happy with the younger Mills.
Driskel has frolicked with Cincinnati, Detroit and Denver. He has seen motion in 16 NFL video games, together with 9 begins and has thrown for two,120 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions on 202-of-345 passing.
The shocking quantity for Driskel is that he’s been sacked 38 occasions, which is uncommon for a quarterback who has all the time been such a gifted runner. His expertise and confidence enable him higher decision-making in holding onto the soccer too lengthy and deciding to duck out of stress extra usually.
DeLuca was referred to as as much as the Chargers roster in December final season and performed in three video games. He signed an $885,000 one-year contract at the moment.
The Texans at the moment have three quarterbacks on the roster. Kyle Allen has entered COVID protocol and won't be obtainable within the season opener if he stays with the group.
There have been some not-so-fortunate gamers failing to make the minimize Tuesday.
It appeared that former Timber Creek and FSU star working again Jacques Patrick may make the roster for the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals, however he was waived. He'll seemingly find yourself with a spot on the Bengals apply squad except one other group picks him up via the waiver course of.
Additionally lacking the minimize have been two former UCF offensive linemen Wyatt Miller and Cole Schneider and former South Sumter Excessive and Colorado linebacker Carson Wells.
The San Francisco 49ers positioned sixth-round draft decide Kalia Davis of UCF on the Bodily Unable to Carry out checklist, which requires him to overlook the group’s first 4 video games.
Former FSU receiver Auden Tate was minimize by the Atlanta Falcons, whereas the New York Jets launched former Florida Gators kicker Eddy Pineiro. Former UF cornerback Duke Dawson was positioned on injured reserve by the Carolina Panthers.
This story originated at orlandosentinel.com. Chris Hays is a senior sports activities author who covers highschool soccer, faculty soccer and recruiting, the NFL and the Orlando Magic for the Sentinel. He will be reached at chays@orlandosentinel.com.
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