In 2019, Tyler Shough began his collegiate football career in Eugene, playing for the Ducks. Then he transferred to Texas Tech and then he transferred, once again, to Lousiville. Now, the former Oregon quarterback is heading to the 2025 NFL Draft, just like the Ducks' most recent QB Dillon Gabriel.
Despite Gabriel leading the Ducks to the No. 1 ranking in the country, a Big Ten title, and an appearance in the College Football Playoffs (not to mention being a Heisman Trophy finalist), Shough earned a higher spot in a recent ranking of quarterbacks in the Draft.
ESPN's Mel Kiper, an NFL Draft and college football analyst, released his ranking of the top 10 quarterbacks who have already declared or are expected to declare for the upcoming Draft.
Kiper, much to the chagrin of Duck fans, ranked Gabriel at No. 10 – one spot behind Shough who landed at nine.
UPDATED: Top 10 NFL Draft Quarterbacks per @MelKiperESPN🎯
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Shough grew a lot as he hopped from program to program but to rank him ahead of Gabriel is an outlandish decision. Gabriel led the Ducks to an undefeated season in the Big Ten while Shough led Louisville to a mediocrely impressive 9-4 record in the ACC.
Also read: After two incredible years for Oregon, Tez Johnson declares for the NFL Draft
Both players have six seasons of collegiate football experience but Gabriel's college career is monumentally more impressive than Shough's. Here, take a look for yourself:
Dillon Gabriel college stats
- 1,376 completions (65.2 percent)
- 18,722 passing yards
- 155 passing touchdowns
- 32 interceptions
- 424 carries
- 1,209 rushing yards
- 33 rushing touchdowns
Tyler Shough college Stats
- 599 completions (63 percent)
- 7,820 passing yards
- 59 passing touchdowns
- 23 interceptions
- 246 carries
- 733 rushing yards
- 11 rushing touchdowns
Gabriel had more than double the amount of passing yards and nearly triple the amount of passing touchdowns when compared to Shough's college career. He also ran for nearly 500 more yards and tripled the number of rushing touchdowns that Shough had in college.
While Kiper may know football and the NFL Draft better than most football fans, he made a mistake by placing Shough even one spot higher than Gabriel in his recent quarterback ranking.