Dillon Gabriel is the perfect QB to replace Bo Nix with Oregon football

Losing Bo Nix to the NFL crushed Oregon football fans. Obviously they knew he was just a two-year rental, but they had no idea that he would become a superstar and fan favorite after a rather pedestrian stint at Auburn.

Nix passed for over 8,000 yards and 74 touchdowns with the Ducks in two years, finishing his career overall with 113 touchdowns and 15,351 yards.

In two years with Oregon, he surpassed his totals from three years at Auburn and improved his yards per attempt, cut down his interceptions, and had the best completion rate of his career.

Simply put, his absence will be felt.

Fortunately for Oregon, Dan Lanning knows how to go out and find the top talent at every position and he especially did so at quarterback with the additions of Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel and UCLA transfer Dante Moore. While Moore won't start until Gabriel is gone, the latter happens to be the perfect replacement for Nix.

How? He has the arm, leadership, experience, and decision-making that made Nix so special. In fact, Gabriel is entering his sixth season and he has over 14,000 career yards with 125 touchdowns and had over 6,800 yards and 55 touchdowns with 12 total interceptions in two years at Oklahoma. While those aren't Nix at Oregon stats, they're similar.

On top of that, Gabriel had his career-best completion percentage in 2023 at 69 percent and I would not be shocked to see him break the 70 plateau at Oregon.

Oh yeah, and just like Nix, Gabriel can utilize his legs when the pocket collapses. He can extend plays. Gabriel rushed for 373 yards and 12 touchdowns last season and 315 yards and six touchdowns in 2022. He knows how to use his legs and make defenses work overtime.

If you were to create the perfect Bo Nix replacement in a lab, it would look something like Gabriel.

Oregon fans should rest easy.