Dillon Gabriel says the 'sky's the limit' with Jackson Arnold

Jackson Arnold may end up being the one who replaces Dillon Gabriel as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback, but that hasn’t stopped the latter from showering the star recruit with praise.

After the Sooners’ spring game on Sunday, Gabriel took the time to evaluate how the young quarterback has grown from his first practice to where he is now. According to Gabriel, Arnold’s potential is through the roof.

“I think every freshman in general, but Jackson of course, just learning the lay of the land and you know, what to expect in practice, what to expect day-to-day, week-to-week, whatever it is, scrimmage,” explained Gabriel. “I think he’s just — obviously every freshman has a better grasp on what college is all about, so yeah. The progression, everything, the improvement for him, the sky’s the limit.”

Moreover, Arnold showed some immense potential with his play during the Oklahoma Spring Game, finishing 6-14, which led to 64 passing yards and one impressive passing touchdown. In general, the consensus coming out of Memorial Stadium this weekend was that he made a mark worth noting.

That was especially true of his time when working with the projected starters on the offensive line for Oklahoma, as well as their top receivers heading into next year. Arnold said they were incredibly supportive in his performance as they gave him the time in the pocket and the chance to make plays.

“It was really helpful for me just working with that one offensive line and those one receivers. Playing with guys that have been there before,” Arnold said. “(It) helped me out tremendously. Gave me time in the pocket where I could just step back and throw it essentially.”

Evidently, Arnold passed the test against the No. 1 defense with flying colors, as Brent Venables expected. The Oklahoma Sooners leader had no qualms about putting the young quarterback’s feet to the fire.

“We’ve been going against good-on-good all spring, so we wanted to change it up for the spring game, obviously, knowing that is going to be tougher on that group,” Venables said. “Wanted to see how those guys would handle it. Every position, him included.”

“We had seen it earlier in the spring, too. Today was another day. He’ll be the first to tell you he’s certainly not where he was when we started the spring but he’s definitely not where he wants to be either. A lot of work and what I have an appreciation about that group, is the humility and everybody helping everybody, supporting each other.”

Indisputably, Jackson Arnold is making fans of everyone in Norman, and his time could come sooner rather than later if Dillon Gabriel has a rough start.

On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this article.