Former Oregon Ducks' quarterback Bo Nix has carved a path for Dillon Gabriel to draw eyes of NFL scouts
Oregon Ducks' quarterback Dillon Gabriel has officially accepted his invite to the Reese's Senior Bowl a day after being named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy Award. If you feel like you've seen this story before, you have. And it's a good one. Last year, Bo Nix led the country in completion percentage, was named a […]
Oregon Ducks' quarterback Dillon Gabriel has officially accepted his invite to the Reese's Senior Bowl a day after being named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy Award. If you feel like you've seen this story before, you have. And it's a good one.
Last year, Bo Nix led the country in completion percentage, was named a Heisman Trophy finalist, accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl, and went on to be drafted 12th overall by the Denver Broncos. He's looked like a hit so far in his rookie season, with Denver fighting for a playoff spot.
This year, Gabriel finished the year with the second-highest completion percentage in the country (I blame the Tez Johnson injury for the dip), was named a Heisman Trophy finalist, has accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl, and has had a very similar path throughout his college football career that has led to a ton of experience and leadership traits.
What the NFL loved about Bo Nix was his athleticism, his arm, his ability to extend plays, and the 61 career college football starts that made him the most experienced college football player ever.
Does it sound familiar? Gabriel is a little smaller than Nix at 5'11", but he's densely built, athletic, has a great release, has plenty of arm strength, and passed Nix with 63 career starts and counting. The storyline would exist whether or not they both played for Oregon, which makes it that much more of a direct comparison for front offices to look at in terms of the preparation, the leadership, and the culture that these two quarterbacks came from.
The "exciting" quarterbacks are the ones that enter the league early oozing with athletic upside and raw talent to be molded into a ball of clay. See Justin Fields, Trey Lance, and Anthony Richardson, three quarterbacks that were supposed to be the next great dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL. Fields and Lance didn't work out, and Richardson is teetering on the edge of a similar path.
While drafting those raw quarterbacks is intriguing, it has become abundantly clear that the NFL has a quarterback development issue. Between 2017 and 2018, the NFL drafted Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson as four of the eight first round quarterbacks selected. Those were clear hits, Watson's off-field issues notwithstanding. Since then, it's been a downward trend.
Between the 2019 and 2022 NFL Draft, 12 first round quarterbacks were selected, seven of whom are no longer on the team that drafted them.
Of 20 first round quarterbacks selected between 2018 and 2023, none have won a Super Bowl.
Back in October, I saw this post from NFL Draft coverage guru Matt Miller, and it has stuck with me a ton.
It's a fair and valid point. Quarterbacks have short leashes and aren't being given chances to make mistakes and learn at the professional level. If the leagues and agents are beginning to adjust, looking for quarterbacks that are entering the league with more experience, more leadership ability, more capacity to overcome adversity and pressure, more knowledge of opposing defenses, then Dillon Gabriel is your man.
Nobody in the history of college football has played more games, scored more total touchdowns (183) and he ranks second all-time in passing touchdowns (149), passing yards (18,140) and total yards (19,375). Gabriel also has a career interception rate of only 1.5% and has plenty of athleticism to break the pocket and pick up yards with his legs — just like Bo Nix.
As of now, Gabriel is the headliner on the Senior Bowl roster, and he has every opportunity to rocket up draft boards as teams continue their search for experienced quarterbacks that can make the jump to the NFL.
Follow along all year for more Oregon Ducks coverage on A to Z Sports. You can find me on Bluesky @jonhelmkamp.bsky.social, as well as follow our main page @AtoZSports.bsky.social for all the latest news.
