Cincinnati Bengals Preseason: 3 Takeaways vs Buccaneers

3. Can They Keep Three Quarterbacks Again?

In recent years, NFL teams have made a habit of skimping on the number of quarterbacks they hold on their regular season rosters. Rather than the three that teams used to stick with, it’s become pretty common for a team to carry just two for entire seasons at a time.

This is logical to a certain degree. If a team has a solid-or-better starter in tow, it usually would take either a major step down in form or a significant injury to remove them from taking snaps behind center. Keeping one player behind him to step in during those unfortunate situations is often enough in the short term, and not keeping a third quarterback allows a team to keep a player elsewhere (whether due to need or just purely better talent).

This can be a dangerous proposition, however. One bad hit and a starter can be out of there. Depending on severity, that can be for anywhere from a couple plays in a series or for weeks/months at a time. Assuming a backup can even come in and do decently well, they too are one unfortunate hit from a redux of the exact same situation occurring again.

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Though most teams are essentially doomed if their starter is down for a significant portion of the year, having someone ready and able to capably fill in for a few weeks could be the difference between a lost season and holding onto a playoff berth. Having yet another guy who could potentially do that on the team is even more advantageous.

Cincinnati may have that with Jeff Driskel. The Bengals liked Driskel enough last season to keep him on the roster throughout 2016. Even sticking with him as injuries decimated other areas of the team prior to them becoming eliminated from postseason contention.

His showing in this first preseason does him plenty of favors in the hopes of holding down a roster spot again. Of the seven quarterbacks to play between both teams, Driskel was clearly the best performer. He missed connecting on just one of his nine passes on the evening, garnering 97 yards through the air (only Jameis Winston had more, with 99 on 9-of-13 passing). He was the only quarterback to toss a touchdown in the game (an eight-yard connection with Josh Malone), and he also picked up another on the ground (an 18-yard scamper to put Cincinnati up, 20-12).

Even if he keeps up this level throughout the next three weeks, it will still be tough to make the final 53-man roster, however. There are so many skill position and defensive talents to pick from right now in Cincinnati who could (should?) be given priority over someone who will only play if things go horribly wrong. Cincinnati obviously wants to get back to the playoffs after seeing their five-year streak of postseason berths come to an end in 2016, and prioritizing a QB3 over another position doesn’t exactly seem to help that goal much.

Seeing how he lasted through the deluge of injuries last year though, I wouldn’t rule it out that he could stick around again if he continues with this type of performance for the rest of the preseason.

Something else to watch on this front as well: continued strong play from Driskel could lead to Cincinnati to trade away one of their backup QBs if the right situation arises.

A.J. McCarron was already subject to trade speculation during the offseason; if a team gets hit with an unforeseen injury behind center between now and the start of the season, they could be willing to pay a notable price (supposedly that was as high as a first-round selection back around the draft) to acquire him and try to save their season. That price tag could still be too high for McCarron, but if he does well enough in the coming weeks Driskel could prove himself worth mid-to-late draft pick for a desperate team in need of depth as the season draws nearer.

Whatever the eventual outcome, Cincinnati’s options with their quarterback depth definitely seem to be growing stronger after their first preseason outing.