It’s the offseason and another list has been put out by The Athletic (subscription required), this time involving Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
This list puts the top quarterbacks in tiers instead of just ranking them.
To no one’s surprise, former Sooner and current USC Trojan Caleb Williams is in a tier by himself after winning last season’s Heisman trophy.
Tier 2 features two quarterbacks: North Carolina’s Drake Maye and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. Both are coming off great seasons.
Tier 3 has eight quarterbacks. They are LSU’s Jayden Daniels, UTSA’s Frank Harris, Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson, Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall, Oregon’s Bo Nix, Tulane’s Michael Pratt and Kentucky’s Devin Leary.
Tier 4 is where we find Gabriel. He’s joined by Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman, Wisconsin’s Tanner Mordecai, Utah’s Cam Rising, Kansas’ Jalon Daniels, Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa and Florida State’s Jordan Travis.
The breakdown of Gabriel couldn’t have been better. Bruce Feldman said, “Gabriel is underrated. He’s gifted. Year 2 with his teammates will make a big difference for OU.”
I couldn’t have worded that any better. Gabriel caught a lot of flak last year simply for not being Caleb Williams, Baker Mayfield, Jalen Hurts or Kyler Murray.
Not many are. Let’s face it, Sooner fans have been spoiled and have grown to expect that level of play. Gabriel isn’t that and will never be that, but he’s more than capable of winning games.
He’s a lot better than people give him credit for and he was far from the problem last season.
Could he have been better? Absolutely. Were there throws he needs to make? Yes. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad quarterback. He’s a very good quarterback and after what happened in 2021 with a certain someone leaving and taking the star QB with him, Oklahoma fans should feel lucky to have him.
[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1366]
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.