Dillon Gabriel shares insight into conversations with NFL teams ahead of Senior Bowl

The Senior Bowl doesn’t just give NFL Draft prospects an opportunity to showcase their talents in front of NFL scouts and executives. It also gives teams a chance to talk with prospects about football, life and more. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel is at the Senior Bowl this week and has spoken with teams who might be interested in drafting him.

Dillon Gabriel joined the NFL Network during Tuesday’s Senior Bowl practice and offered some insight into what his conversations with teams have been like.

“Yea, it’s been really great,” Dillon Gabriel said. “Great conversations and something I’m extremely confident in and comfortable within, whether it’s talking ball, getting on the white board, talking certain plays or just asking questions about who I am.

“You know, I’m confident in that, know what I represent, and every single day, with the lights on or off, I’m the same person. So ain’t gotta be someone I’m not.”

Dillon Gabriel added that it’s not just NFL teams asking him questions, but he is also speaking with teams to learn more about their coaching staffs and executives. He is hoping to find a perfect fit in the NFL Draft and believes that the Senior Bowl can help him with that.

“It’s most important to be your authentic self, because you don’t want to mis-align yourself,” Gabriel said. “As players we don’t get to pick. The coaches pick this time. And you know, I wanna make sure that there’s a great fit, for both.”

Dillon Gabriel was only at Oregon for one season, but it was a special year. The Ducks finished the regular season undefeated, beat Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game and earned the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

Individually, Gabriel completed 73 percent of his passes, threw for 3,857 yards and had 30 touchdowns with only six interceptions. He also rushed for 149 yards and seven scores. Gabriel was named a Heisman finalist thanks to his excellent production.

The year didn’t end the way he hoped it would, though, as Oregon was blown out by Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff. After that game, Gabriel took a few days off and then got right back to work.

“Yea, you know, three days, four days out from my last game, wanted to flush that one, get throwing again and get out to beautiful Huntington Beach, [California] with 3DQB,” Gabriel said. “So was training with them all the way up until this point. So shoutout to them and preparing me for this and whatever it may be playbook wise or throwing the football.

“And then you come out here and it’s time to go to work. So it’s been good. It’s been a lot of fun.”