Oregon had one of its best seasons in program history last year, and its star quarterback is having an interesting start to his NFL career.
After leading the Ducks to an undefeated regular season and No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff’s first 12-team field, Dillon Gabriel was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
In Cleveland’s first preseason game, Gabriel never saw any action, with Shedeur Sanders getting the start against the Carolina Panthers. However, Gabriel is in line to start in the Browns’ second preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.
Of course, there is one thing that could prevent the former Duck from getting that chance. Dealing with a hamstring injury, Gabriel’s status for Week 2 of the preseason is still up in the air, and his response when asked about his status wasn’t exactly encouraging.
“We’ll know here soon,” Gabriel responded when asked if he was 100%.
After bouncing around in college from UCF to Oklahoma to Oregon, Gabriel is hoping to find a stable home in the NFL. With Cleveland’s uncertain quarterback situation, Gabriel could certainly take over as QB1 for the Browns as a rookie.
While Gabriel’s road ahead certainly won’t be easy, he simply needs to get on the field and show what he’s capable of. With Browns coach Kevin Stefanski ready to see what he has in his young quarterback, if Gabriel can get to 100% in time for kickoff, he could soon turn some heads and make Eugene proud.