Dillon Gabriel, QB

Height: 6 feet
Weight: 200 pounds
Age: 24 years old (December 28th, 2000)

Oregon

Year	Completion %	Yards	TDs	INTs
2024	72.9%	3,857	30	6

Oklahoma

Year	Completion %	Yards	TDs	INTs
2022	62.7%	3,168	25	6
2023	69.3%	3,660	30	6

UCF

Year	Completion %	Yards	TDs	INTs
2019	59.3%	3,653	29	7
2020	60%	3,570	32	4
2021	68.6%	814	9	3

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Pros:

• Decision-making
  While Dillon Gabriel played at three schools in varying offenses, some things remained steady as can be. His aversion to bad turnovers, high adjusted completion rates, and willingness to hunt big plays were present on Day 1 back in 2019. Gabriel sees the field well when in an RPO offense and will execute it to a certain degree of success regardless of anything else around him influencing results. While he might not always make the best decision or react to unexpected developments quickly, he rarely makes a devastatic or foolish mistake, giving his offenses a solid floor. 
  
  
• Adaptability
  Gabriel's adjustment to Oklahoma and then Oregon took almost zero time and featured no dip in play. He wasn't perfect at various points, but he played up to his supporting cast and situation as he needed to. At UCF, he was a dynamic downfield passer who maximized the speed on the unit. At Oklahoma, his average depth of target swelled as well, and he was more aggressive in Year 2. His Oregon role shrunk, and he proved to be a capable short-game merchant working off the run game with quick passes. 
• Mobility
  The biggest area of growth for Gabriel over his career was his improvement against pressure. His pressure to sack rate over 2023 and 2024 were among the best in this year's class, and were gigantic drops from past seasons. Gabriel learned to identify pressure and reacted better to it. At the crux of both of those things is his mobility. Gabriel is quick footed and bolts out of traffic as needed. He's a threat on read options and when scrambling, so defenses must account for him.
  
  
• Accuracy
  I wouldn't say Gabriel is overly precise, but he'll put the ball in the frame of his receiver more often than not. He throws catchable balls with touch effectively and rarely has complete misfires. He overcomes his limited arm strength by throwing into windows over targeting receivers in the ideal catch point. 

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Cons:

• Arm talent
  Gabriel is able to place bucket throws deep and get the ball out quickly, but he struggles driving the ball into tight windows. His lack of velocity is a major limitation for an offense because he's unable to push the ball across the field, routinely hit tight windows, or compensate for off-balance throwing platforms where he can't set his feet and create torque.
  
  
• Post-snap reads
  When Gabriel can take a step and get a throw off, he's capable of nickel and diming a defense down the field or finding a chunk play downfield. However, more advanced reads or consistent working of the pocket to buy time is lacking in Gabriel's arsenal. Unless a backside receiver has significant separation, Gabriel is gunshy. He's a one-read quarterback and is very good at executing it.
  
  
• Scheme complexity
  Every offense Gabriel has played in has catered to his strengths and mitigated his weaknesses. That doesn't mean each offense has been the same, as his UCF offense focused on go routes, while Oklahoma had more posts and deep ins. Oregon reduced Gabriel's burden, prioritizing underneath throws and sprinkling in the posts, curls, and ins that worked at Oklahoma. But each was an RPO-based attack out of shotgun. Gabriel has the athleticism to be under center and execute rollouts and West Coast concepts, but we've never seen him in a more structured, complex offense.

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Player Evaluation:

A left-handed passer with limited arm talent and experience beyond a basic RPO offense, Gabriel still has value to NFL teams as a backup who can rely on what he does have confidence and experience in. He's accurate enough and takes care of the ball effectively to operate in a pinch. His mobility is a clear plus as well, so he checks off several boxes of a player who can stick around the league for a long time.

Pro Comp: Colt McCoy

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A to Z Rankings:

A to Z Big Board Ranking: #9 quarterback

A to Z Draft Grade: 6.13

Draft projection: Late Day 3/UDFA