Athlon Ranks Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel No. 1 Among Big 12 Quarterbacks

The Big 12 is undergoing a transformation at the position, and thanks to his previous work under offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, the former UCF star seems equipped for success.

Losing Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams to their respective USCs gutted Oklahoma’s quarterback room.

But the setback, it seems, was only temporary.

According to Athlon Sports, the Sooners still have the top quarterback in the Big 12 Conference, even if it is in the form of transfer Dillon Gabriel.

“Gabriel arriving as a transfer from UCF softens concerns about this position,” Athlon writes. “Also, Gabriel worked under offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby at UCF in ‘19, so the transition in scheme should be minimal.”

Athlon ranked Gabriel No. 1 ahead of the rest of the Big 12’s projected starters.

That includes Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders, who was first-team All-Big 12 last season, and Baylor’s Gerry Bohanon, who guided the Bears to the Big 12 crown last season.

Gabriel also ranks ahead of Texas redshirt freshman Quinn Ewars, the No. 1 high school quarterback in the country in the 2022 class who reclassified to the 2021 class, suited up for Ohio State and now plays for the Longhorns.

“If Ewers is as good as his high school tape shows,” Athlon writes, ‘it would go a long ways towards helping coach Steve Sarkisian to get Texas back on track.”

Under head coach Josh Heupel and with Lebby as offensive coordinator, Gabriel started at UCF in 2019 and passed for 3,653 yards with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions. After Heupel left for Tennessee and Lebby went to Ole Miss, Gabriel threw for 3,570 yards with 32 TDs and just four interceptions in 2020. Gabriel broke his collarbone three games into the 2021 season and ended up redshirting, but still averaged 271 yards per game with nine TDs and three INTs.

"I think the thing that I've seen from a growth standpoint with Dillon is, just like everything else, he's lived it," Lebby said. "He's got that much more experience since I left him back two years ago. His production was really good in '20. Obviously he had the collarbone last year, but the things that I saw were him being able to extend and create a little more. When he was a young guy, he wanted to be in the pocket. 

"I think what you saw from him his true sophomore year is you saw him create a little more. You saw him extend a little more. Those are the things that we're gonna need."

After Gabriel, Athlon ranks Sanders No. 2, Ewars No. 3 and Bohanon No. 4.

Kansas State’s Adrian Martinez, a transfer from Nebraska, ranks No. 5, TCU’s Max Duggan is No. 6, Texas Tech’s Donovan Smith is No. 7, Kansas’ Jalen Daniels is No. 8, Iowa State’s Hunter Dekkers is No. 9 and West Virginia freshman Nicco Marchiol is No. 10.

“The Big 12 is usually home to some of college football's best QB play, but the league had an up-and-down season under center last fall,” Athlon writes. “The outlook for '22 is intriguing, especially if transfers Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma), Quinn Ewers (Texas) and Adrian Martinez (Kansas State) deliver at their new schools.”