Since he first stepped onto a football field, quarterback Dillon Gabriel has been told he's too small to ever make it to the big leagues. Then, he found himself at UCF and then at Oklahoma. Before anyone could blink, Gabriel was leading the Oregon Ducks to a Big Ten Championship and an appearance in the College Football Playoffs.
Now, that very quarterback who was too small to ever play in the NFL, just became the fifth QB taken in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Gabriel broke records and won games; not a lot else is more important for a quarterback. Yet, even as he went through the NFL Combine and Oregon's Pro Day, people still questioned if he even had the skill set to make it to the league.
Yet, just like that, the Cleveland Browns selected Gabriel in the third round as the 94th overall pick in the league.
Even former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, aka the G.O.A.T., had to give Gabriel a compliment, comparing him to one of his former Alabama players who has made a name for himself in the NFL.
"I don't know if it's cause he's Hawaiian and he's left-handed, but he reminds me of Tua [Tagovailoa]," Saban said.
Quarterbacks drafted before Dillon Gabriel
- Cam Ward - Pick 1, Tennessee Titans
- Jaxson Dart - Pick 25, New York Giants
- Tyler Shough - Pick 40, New Orleans Saints
- Jalen Milroe - Pick 92, Seattle Seahawks
To name just a few quarterbacks who had yet to be drafted when Gabriel heard his name called: Texas's Quinn Ewers and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders were still waiting to be picked by a team at the next level.
Gabriel became the eighth-ever Oregon quarterback to be drafted into the NFL, joining Bo Nix (2024), Justin Herbert (2020), Marcus Mariota (2015), Joey Harrington (2002), Akili Smith (1999), Chris Miller (1987), and George Shaw (1955).