Dillon Gabriel positive in his ability to follow Bo Nix

Freshly-minted Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel knows he’s following a star in taking over the team after Bo Nix.

Regardless, he’s a believer in his abilities, and he thinks the Ducks won’t miss a beat in their transition from the first round selection of the Denver Broncos to Gabriel. Joining Bussin’ With The Boys, the transfer quarterback elaborated on why he feels so.

“I feel good,” Gabriel said. “I’ve watched him play a bunch, and I think you know, as seasons go on, you’re definitely able to see you know, quarterbacks playing at a high level. Knew Bo was doing that, and I think that’s what made Oregon such an attractive place. Just how they let the quarterback go play. The types of throws you’re able to make.

“And then also, you’re seeing, you know, obviously the success of the program, you know that it takes a bunch of people. As a quarterback, you understand that what he’s been able to do is super impressive.”

Nevertheless, it’s a new offensive style of Gabriel, where he needs to get the ball out quicker than he has in the past. However, he’s not the only believer in himself, as Justin Hopkins of ScoopDuck explained last week on Andy Staples On3, that in the spring game for Oregon, Gabriel made it look like it’s going to be more of the same for the Ducks.

“Yeah, I know we’ve got a pretty vanilla offense there and they kept things in check,” Hopkins said. “For me, Oregon fans are tremendously spoiled because we were watching Bo Nix and he made very few mistakes, if any, in any game at any time. So, you go expecting that level of perfection, which is not common, and was Dillon Gabriel perfect? No, he was not perfect but he kept a pretty high level, the completion rate was good.

“He looked comfortable. He knew where his receivers were supposed to be. It just looked like more of the same in a different quarterback.”

Moreover, Oregon is Gabriel’s third school, and 2024 will be his sixth season of college football. He played three at UCF, including the pandemic season and one where he only played in four games before suffering a season-ending injury. He then transferred to Oklahoma, where he was a two-year starter. 

For his career, Gabriel has played in 50 college games. He’s completed 63.1 percent of passes for 14,865 yards and 125 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 1060 yards and 26 touchdowns. 

Living up to the legacy that Bo Nix left at Oregon was going to be difficult for any quarterback, but Dillon Gabriel has the experience and talent to do a good job filling those shoes, and helping Oregon to compete in its first Big Ten season. We’ll see if he gets the job done.

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this article.