Despite his incredible collegiate career, there have been a lot of questions surrounding Dillon Gabriel's viability at the next level as he flies toward the 2025 NFL Draft. At just 6-foot-0 and 200 pounds, Gabriel is on the smaller end of quarterbacks and that has created some concerns about his Draft stock.
While his career should speak for itself, those concerns and questions carried into the week leading up to the Reese's Senior Bowl... until Gabriel took the field.
Not only did the former Oregon quarterback find himself on the leaderboard for measurable statistics on Day 1 but multiple NFL Draft analysts were praising his football IQ and one analyst even compared him to a current starting NFL quarterback.
Todd McShay, a long-time NFL analyst for ESPN, attended a couple of the practice sessions for the Senior Bowl and had the opportunity to watch Gabriel in person. To put it simply, McShay was impressed. In fact, McShay went as far as to compare the former Duck to the current starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoa.
NFL Draft expert @McShay13 says he sees comparisons of Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa in Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel after watching him in person at @theseniorbowl 👀🦆📈
— DuckZone503 (@DuckZone503) January 30, 2025
Do you agree?! ⬇️
(Via the McShay Show on Tik Tok) pic.twitter.com/nYlhirk2CH
"I saw a little bit more zip out of him today," McShay said. "I walked away from now seeing him live, I've thought this before, but I really believe if Tua Tagovailoa's talent is right here, I think it's just a slight notch below, is the talent level of Dillon Gabriel."
Tagovailoa was the No. 5 overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft and immediately became the starting quarterback for the Dolphins. Despite numerous injuries, Tagovailoa has excelled in the league. Now, McShay that kind of career is possible for Gabriel as well.
Tagovailoa is just one inch taller than Gabriel, standing at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds. However, if NFL scouts and coaches are still concerned about Gabriel's stature, they could always look at a few other quarterbacks who have done just fine despite their smaller size:
- Drew Brees – 6-foot-0
- Russell Wilson – 5-foot-11
- Doug Flutie – 5-foot-10
- Kyler Murray – 5-foot-10
The moral of the story is that while size matters, it isn't everything when it comes to the success levels of an NFL quarterback. Gabriel has the IQ, the arm strength, and the dual-threat talent to excel in the league, he just needs to be given a chance.