Tag: chubba purdy

ESPN tabs quarterback Dillon Gabriel as the Sooners’ top ‘instant-impact newcomer’

ESPN listed Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel as its “instant-impact newcomer” for the Sooners.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach already released his “way-too-early” top 25 rankings for the 2022 college football season where the Sooners checked in at No. 17.

Now, ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren shared which players are the biggest instant-impact newcomers for each of Schlabach’s “way-too-early” top-25 teams.

His pick for Oklahoma was UCF transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel. The 6-foot, 186 pound signal-caller has thrown for 8,037 yards and 70 passing touchdowns during his three years with the Knights.

Gabriel was injured at the end of UCF’s third game of this past season against Louisville. He finished his 2021 season with 814 passing yards, nine passing touchdowns and a 68.6 completion percentage.

In 2020, Gabriel had 32 passing touchdowns against just four interceptions and 3,570 passing yards. With Jeff Lebby as his offensive coordinator in 2019, Gabriel recorded 3,653 passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns against seven interceptions.

Gabriel will reunite with Lebby at Oklahoma and he arrives in Norman as someone who has been an established starter in college football for the Sooners.

Here’s what VanHaaren had to say about the type of impact Gabriel will have on OU.

The Sooners have had quarterbacks Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams enter the transfer portal, leaving a clear path for Gabriel to start. New offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby coached Gabriel at UCF. Gabriel threw for 3,653 yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2019 under Lebby, and now the two have a chance to put together an explosive offense once again. – VanHaaren, ESPN

Assuming Caleb Williams does in fact transfer away from Oklahoma, it essentially means the Sooners will have a different starting quarterback than the previous season for the sixth consecutive year.

Spencer Rattler technically bucked that trend last season, but, by the time the season ended, Williams had started the majority of Oklahoma’s games and finished the season as the Sooners’ unquestioned starting quarterback.

Gabriel isn’t just a plug-the-gap starter if he winds up winning the Sooners’ starting quarterback job. He’s someone that has started a lot of college football games, put up big numbers, has three years of eligibility remaining and ranks as 247Sports’ No. 15 transfer portal player in 2022.

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Oklahoma reportedly expected to add Ole Miss staffer Matt Holecek as an analyst

According to On3’s Matt Zenitz, Ole Miss offensive analyst Matt Holecek is reportedly joining Brent Venables’ staff as an analyst.

Oklahoma head football coach Brent Venables continues to round out his first staff. On3’s Matt Zenitz reported that Oklahoma is adding Ole Miss staffer Matt Holecek as an analyst.

Holecek has been an offensive analyst at Ole Miss for the past two seasons and worked as the Rebels’ assistant quarterbacks coach.

It means that Holecek is familiar with new Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby as they’ve worked together for each of the last two years. Holecek also helped in the development of Ole Miss star quarterback Matt Corral.

Corral was one of the elite quarterbacks in all of college football in 2021. The Ventura, Calif., native passed for 3,349 yards with 20 passing touchdowns against just five interceptions.

Corral completed 67.9 percent of his passes and was up for a bevy of national awards. Corral was a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist, a Maxwell Award semifinalist and a Walter Camp Player of the Year semifinalist in 2021.

The 6-foot-2, 205 pound redshirt junior was also a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist, a Manning Award finalist and the Conerly Trophy winner in 2021.

During the 2020 season, Corral completed 70.9 percent of his passes, threw for 3,337 yards and 29 touchdowns. Corral also rushed for 1,120 yards and 15 touchdowns over the last two seasons.

Prior to his two-year stint at Ole Miss, Holecek worked as an offensive analyst at Missouri.

Now, Holecek will get the opportunity to work with UCF transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Gabriel has passed for 8,037 yards and recorded 70 passing touchdowns in his collegiate career.

There could be more news on the way in the Oklahoma quarterbacks room, too. OU recently offered Florida State transfer quarterback Chubba Purdy, the younger brother of Iowa State’s Brock Purdy.

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Quarterback Chubba Purdy, brother of Brock Purdy receives offer from Oklahoma

Oklahoma continues to quarterback shop, this time with an offer to Ftransfer quarterback Chubba Purdy.

If you like to read between the lines, this may be the article for you. After a hectic week that saw the Sooners watch as Caleb Williams entered the transfer portal and saw Dillon Gabriel commit to Oklahoma just hours later, the Sooners are back in the portal shopping for yet another quarterback.

The new quarterback offer is one with a familiar last name. Chubba Purdy, former quarterback of the Florida State Seminoles, is the younger brother of recently graduated Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy. The older Purdy has been in some battles with the Sooners in recent years.

The younger Purdy may not be as accomplished at the college level as his brother is, but he could fill a very significant role for Oklahoma who still  needs another scholarship quarterback. Oklahoma will only have 2022 four-star Nick Evers and UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel on scholarship in 2022.

At Florida State, Purdy appeared in three games with one start. He was 27-of-53 passing for 219 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 19 times for 57 yards. He started against North Carolina State in 2020 and was 15-of-23 passing for 181 yards and two touchdowns. His first touchdown pass was a 69-yard pass that ended up being the Seminoles’ biggest pass play of 2020.

Purdy signed with the Seminoles out of high school as a 4-star prospect out of Gilbert, AZ. According to 247 Sports, Purdy was the No. 192 overall prospect, the No. 7 dual-threat QB in the country, and the No. 6 overall prospect out of Arizona.

Caleb Williams could return to Oklahoma but the Sooners landing one quarterback via the transfer portal and still shopping for another would seem to indicate the Sooners and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby don’t think Williams is returning.

Gabriel was insurance for Williams. This next quarterback looks like veteran insurance for Gabriel while Nick Evers acclimates himself to the college game.

The wheels on this situation are turning and it seems like the Sooners are doing their due diligence to cover themselves regardless of what Williams decides.

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