Dillon Gabriel to Oklahoma among best 247Sports transfer portal fits
The transfer portal has been kind to the Oklahoma Sooners over the years. It proved generous yet again in 2022 after watching Spencer Rattler find a new home in South Carolina and Caleb Williams moved on to USC.
Mere hours after Caleb Williams entered his name into the transfer portal, the Oklahoma Sooners received a commitment from Dillon Gabriel, who had already transferred from UCF to UCLA. Getting that commitment made the loss of their starting quarterbacks from the 2021 season less impactful.
The Sooners didn’t mince any words either upon Gabriel’s arrival. They publicly named him the starting quarterback and the team has responded positively to that. Gabriel’s become a leader on the team in a short time and his connection with his wide receivers was on display during the Oklahoma spring game where he looked sharp.
Gabriel to Oklahoma was included in 247Sports’s best transfer portal fits from this offseason.
With Caleb Williams departing to USC, Oklahoma needed a big time replacement at the quarterback position. The good news is the Sooners hit a home run landing Dillon Gabriel. Gabriel looked like he was headed to UCLA up until Jeff Lebby and Brent Venables were able to snatch him up. The former UCF star thrived with the Knights, throwing for more than 7,000 yards in 2019-2020 before having a knee injury shorten his 2021 season. Gabriel throws as good of a deep ball as anyone in the country plus his experience, expertise and leadership will be a big boost for the Sooners as they to try to get back to familiar territory playing for the Big 12 championship. – Blake Brockermeyer, 247Sports
Though Brockermeyer got the type of injury suffered wrong, Gabriel suffered a broken clavicle in his throwing shoulder in 2021, he is right about Gabriel’s deep-ball ability. Gabriel’s familiarity with Jeff Lebby’s offense will allow the Sooners to click early in the season instead of having any sort of acclimation period.
Gabriel and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby did strong work together during the quarterback’s freshman year at UCF. That year, Gabriel threw for 3,653 yards, 29 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
His experience and production will be great assets for an Oklahoma team replacing a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. Like the transfer portal quarterbacks before him, Gabriel was a crucial acquisition for the Oklahoma Sooners and it will have them contending for a Big 12 title in 2022.
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