Sooners QB Dillon Gabriel needs good season to cement NFL Draft stock
The headliners of the 2023 quarterback draft class are Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s CJ Stroud. Florida’s Anthony Richardson, Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke and Kentucky’s Will Levis are also looking to go early next year.
In any case, the 2023 crop of QBs is looking much stronger than 2022’s, which saw only one QB get selected in the first round: Pitt’s Kenny Pickett.
Jeff Lebby saw Dillon Gabriel in the transfer portal and simply had to have him back in his offense once it was clear that Caleb Williams was on the move. Lebby was Gabriel’s offensive coordinator in 2019 before joining Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss.
After playing only three games in 2021 due to a broken collarbone and entering the transfer portal, Gabriel was given a rare opportuinity to join a blue blood program to run an offense that he already knows. Coming to Norman was a no-brianer.
Though an experienced quarterback, Gabriel isn’t a highly-rated draft prospect with the 2022 season around the corner. NFLDraftBuzz.com has him projected as a UDFA.
Improving your draft stock this late in the game is hard. It’s already a crowded class and the QBs rated ahead of Gabriel have more “NFL-type” bodies. At 5-11 and 204 lbs, Gabriel is about the same size as Bryce Young. Young, however, is more talented and has the better arm.
There is more to being a QB than physical traits. Gabriel has already asserted himself as the leader of the Sooners in the short time he’s been in Norman, and that is something NFL GMs look at.
He can make all the throws and is mobile in the pocket. He’s not exactly a rushing threat, but he’s not simply a pure pocket-passer.
If he plays like the best QB in the Big 12 in 2022, the NFL will start paying closer attention to Dillon Gabriel. There’s nothing stopping him from doing just that. If he stays healthy, Gabriel will do big things in a Sooners uniform.
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