Best NFL Fits For Oregon Ducks' Dillon Gabriel? Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers

Where will Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel be selected in the 2025 NFL Draft? Will the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, or Buffalo Bills draft Gabriel as their backup quarterback? Will the Ducks leader be drafted before Texas' Quinn Ewers?
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel scrambles with the ball as the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in the quarterfinal of the College Football Playoff at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel scrambles with the ball as the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in the quarterfinal of the College Football Playoff at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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With the 2025 NFL Draft on the horizon, which franchise will select Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel, and how early will he be selected? Recent draft projections have Gabriel waiting until the second or third day of the draft before being picked.

As a result, Gabriel is expected to be drafted by teams looking for a backup quarterback, like the San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, or Miami Dolphins. Organizations that are looking for their franchise quarterback of the future will likely use a first-round pick on Miami Hurricanes' Cam Ward or Colorado Buffaloes' Shedeur Sanders.

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel throws out a pass during warmups as the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes Wednesday
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel throws out a pass during warmups as the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in the quarterfinal of the College Football Playoff at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Most recently, Gabriel was dropped to the bottom of ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr.'s quarterback prospect rankings. Kiper's draft lists have long been indications for how the ceremony will go, and his recent predictions have Gabriel falling below Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough and Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke. dropped Oregon Ducks' quarterback Dillon Gabriel to the bottom of his list.

On Wednesday, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers announced for the draft, leaving one year of eligibility on the table. Kiper then swiftly followed up that announcement with a revised quarterback draft list. Gabriel, the highest voted quarterback for the Heisman Trophy award, was listed at No. 10 for Kiper's quarterback rundown, a fairly low evaluation for the quarterback's performance this year.

Kiper's recent prediction follows a slew of NFL Draft prediction rankings that don't quite favor the Oregon leader. Gabriel was recently ranked fourth amongst quarterbacks for the ESPN position rankings and is predicted to be drafted by the second or third night of the draft. With a lower draft grade, Gabriel's best NFL fit is most likely a team that will not rely on the Oregon quarterback to play immediately.

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While with the Ducks, Gabriel led the program to it's first 13-0 season in history, cemented a No. 1 seed evaluation in the College Football Playoffs, and won the Big Ten Championship in the program's first year with the conference. In the summation of the season, Gabriel ended with an 86.4 quarterback rating (3rd in NCAA this year), 3,857 yards and 30 touchdowns in the passing game, as well as racking up 149 rushing yards and seven touchdowns off 75 carries.

Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun, left, and defensive end JT Tuimoloau, right, sack Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel
Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun, left, and defensive end JT Tuimoloau, right, sack Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel as the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in the quarterfinal of the College Football Playoff at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Gabriel also broke the FBS record for the most career passing touchdowns, most career touchdowns accounted for, and most points responsible for. Along with coming in third for Heisman voting, he was also named a first-team All-American and the Big Ten Quarterback of the Year.

However, Gabriel has had struggles during the season of completing mid-range to deep-range passes consistently and finding chemistry with long-range receivers outside of a very consistent connection with Tez Johnson. Though that "Achilles heel" of sorts shaped up better for his mid-range targets in the College Football Playoff, going 81% from 5-14 yard passing attempts, the Rose Bowl loss was one of Gabriel's worst performances of the year.

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Ally Osborne
ALLY OSBORNE

A born and raised Oregonian, Ally was raised going up and down the steps of Autzen Stadium. Ally graduated from the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communications in 2021. She currently works at KOIN 6 and Portland's CW in Portland, Oregon where she hosts the lifestyle program "Everyday Northwest" and reports for the KOIN Sports team. She's also a graphic designer in her free time, with several of her works created for Oregon athletes.