Three Reasons Why Dillon Gabriel Will THRIVE as the New Starter for the Oregon Ducks

Experts have always doubted Dillon Gabriel, but throughout his football journey he's produced at an exceptional level.

Despite being undersized he set a Hawaii state record with 9,948 career passing yards, a school record with 105 TD passes. As a college quarterback he's put up 14,865 passing yards and 125 touchdowns over 49 starts, 1,060 rushing yards and 26 more TDs.

He's run an RPO-based spread offense since his freshman year of high school, started 49 games at UCF and Oklahoma, leading the Sooners to a 10-2 regular season record last fall.

Yet the doubts persist. As the season approaches Late Kick host Josh Pate said about Gabriel and the Ducks, "Dillon Gabriel, so they get him at quarterback, big-time transfer. Gabriel's gonna be right up there with some of the best odds to win the Heisman. Are they gonna get top ten quarterback play from him? Or top three? Because that could be the difference in winning a title."

"What one of the things that's not a weakness, but could be a little bit more of a, you know, red flag than some realize is Dillon Gabriel," he said on a recent appearance on "The Cube Show" with Cole Cubelic. "I talked to a couple of coaches that will end up facing them... They said, 'Hey, um, that guy's not as good as Bo Nix.'"

But Gabriel has been silencing doubters his whole career. Here are three reasons he'll thrive in the Oregon offense:

1. Extraordinary weapons and a rock-solid o-line

At Oklahoma, Gabriel was sacked 17 times last season while the Sooners run game averaged 4.55 yards a carry. The leading tight end on the team was Austin Stogner, who caught 17 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown.

The Oregon offensive line allowed just five sacks all last season. And the Ducks running game is more consistent, 2583 yards last year, 5.91 per carry (nearly a yard and a half better,) 33 touchdowns. The Ducks feature three reliable tight ends in veteran Terrance Ferguson, Patrick Herbert and explosive sophomore Kenyon Sadiq. The wide receiver room is the best in the nation. Gabriel has far more to work with and better protection.

2. Stein's Design

As a former undersized walk-on quarterback who became a starter at Louisville, offensive coordinator Will Stein excels at building an offense around the strengths of his players, particularly his quarterback. It's a quarterback-friendly offense with built-in options and easy completions, getting the ball to explosive players in space for big plays. He gets his players in a rhythm and teaches them to execute, scripting the first 15-20 plays of the game.

Against PSU last season the Ducks scored touchdowns on their first 9 possessions of the game. At Texas Tech, a first series punt, then two touchdown drives to take a 15-7 lead near the end of the first quarter. Against Hawaii, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown to start the football game and take a 31-0 lead. In their PAC-12 opener against Colorado, three touchdowns to begin the game and lead 21-0, two more to lead 35-0 at halftime.

The Ducks start fast and execute at a high level even in the first games of September. Admittedly against manageable competition, but this is an efficient operation where the standards are high.

3. Dillon at the goal line

Gabriel's poised, athletic style makes him a tremendous threat in the Red Zone. He excels at buying time and giving his receivers time to get open. He scans the field and he's always a threat to take off and save a play with his legs. Last season he scored 12 rushing touchdowns, not afraid to pinball off people and slip into the end zone. He's calm and decisive. Last season he threw for 30 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions. In this offense, he's almost certain to improve those numbers.

It's an area of opportunity for the Ducks. In 2022 and 2023, Red Zone glitches cost them in three losses to Washington. Last year despite having a high-output offense they were just 40th in Red Zone conversions at 87.8%. Gabriel's resourcefulness could make the difference in close-- at Oklahoma his squad converted on 89.6% of Red Zone tries, 26th in the FBS.