Austin Stogner gives first impression of Dillon Gabriel, Jackson Arnold

Tight end Austin Stogner is well-known to Oklahoma fans. After all, he played for the Sooners before transferring to South Carolina. Now, after one season with the Gamecocks, he’s returned to Norman and will be playing with a new quarterback.

Now, Stogner has given his first impression of quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Jackson Arnold, both of whom are new quarterbacks since he originally left.

“Dillon is a high-energy guy,” Austin Stogner said. “He’s got a really good arm and he’s smart and knows where to place the ball.”

Dillon Gabriel put up massive numbers at UCF under Josh Heupel. However, after breaking his collarbone and missing most of the 2021 season, he decided it was best to transfer because he didn’t fit into Gus Malzahn’s system. He became Oklahoma’s starter in 2023, throwing for 3,168 yards and 25 touchdowns.

“And, so does Jackson. You can see why he was such a high recruit and he’s come in and he’s done really well.”

Jackson Arnold, meanwhile, is a five-star from the Class of 2023, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.

Austin Stogner is expected to be a key contributor for Oklahoma in the passing attack this season. During his initial three seasons with Oklahoma, he had 47 catches for 654 yards and eight touchdowns. He remained productive working with Spencer Rattler during his season at South Carolina.

His decision to return to Oklahoma, leaving Spencer Rattler, was an interesting one. The two moved to South Carolina together and Rattler has spoken about their connection before. Still, he returned to Oklahoma looking to “run it back” for the 2023 season.

Joel Klatt expects Oklahoma to bounce back

2022 was a frustrating start to the Brent Venables era for Oklahoma. Still, plenty of people, like college basketball analyst Joel Klatt, expect the Sooners to bounce back in 2023.

“But really it comes down to there’s one team that I’m looking at it I’m like, okay, their schedule, their quarterback coming back, just a little bit of improvement on the defensive side of play here, they’re in a close game, Oklahoma. Oklahoma. I’m going to keep saying this, Oklahoma is my team that’s going to pop. I know that they were a six win team,” Klatt said.

“They were close to a nine win team, close to a 10 win team really when you look at all their one score games, and that can easily go the other direction. You look at that conference, and no one’s going to be running away with it. It’s not like they have to go play an Ohio State or an Alabama or Georgia or a Michigan, right? They don’t have that team in their conference. So OU is a team that could possibly take advantage of some chaos in 2023.”