Dillon Gabriel (born December 28, 2000) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NC ...

, the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

, and the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

before being drafted by the Browns in the third round of the

2025 NFL draft The 2025 NFL draft was the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025 ...

. He began his career at UCF in 2019 before transferring to Oklahoma in 2022, and then transferred to Oregon in December 2023. The 2024 Big Ten championship game was Gabriel's 63rd career game played, surpassing Chase Brice for the most games played by a quarterback in Division I football history. He is only the eighth college QB to surpass 15,000

passing yards The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

and the fourth to surpass 16,000, having amassed 18,722 throughout his college career, the second most in Division I football history, behind only

Case Keenum Casey Austin Keenum (born February 17, 1988) is an American professional football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Houston Cougars, where he became the NCAA's all-time l ...

's 19,217.

Early life

Both of Gabriel's parents are ethnic native Hawaiians. His father played quarterback at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and his mother played college softball. Gabriel attended

Mililani High School Mililani High School is the only public high school located in Mililani Town CDP,2000 Map: - Compare to addresses of schools. City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. on the island of Oahu. Serving an enrollment of over 2,600 students in gra ...

Mililani, Hawaii Mililani () is a city located near the center of the island of Oahu in Honolulu County, Hawaiʻi, United States. It consists of two census-designated places, Mililani Town, with a population of 28,121 at the 2020 census, and Mililani Mauka, wi ...

. As a senior in 2018, he was the Gatorade High School Football Player of the Year for Hawaii after passing for 3,754 yards and 38

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s. He finished his career with 9,948 passing yards and 105 touchdowns. Gabriel committed to play college football at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

(UCF).

College career

UCF

Gabriel entered his first year at UCF in 2019 as the backup to

Brandon Wimbush Brandon Wimbush (born December 17, 1996) is a former American football quarterback who played for Notre Dame and UCF. Early years Wimbush, a resident of Teaneck, New Jersey, attended St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City. As a senior ...

, but took over during the first game and started the final 12 games of the season as the Knights finished with a 10–3 record capping with a 48–25 victory over

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

at the

Gasparilla Bowl The Gasparilla Bowl is an annual NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game played in the Tampa Bay area. It was first played in 2008 as the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, one of several new bowl gam ...

. For the season, he completed 236 of 398 passes for 3,653 yards, 29 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. In his sophomore year, Gabriel led the Knights to a 6–4 record and an appearance in the

Boca Raton Bowl The Boca Raton Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Boca Raton, Florida, since December 2014 on the campus of Flor ...

completing 21 of 45 for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 49–23 loss. On September 17, 2021, in a regular season game against

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, Gabriel was injured on the final play of the game, a multi-lateral attempt at a miracle touchdown by the Knights. Gabriel was carted off the field and X-rays were taken of his shoulder after the game. He suffered a broken left

clavicle The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the scapula, shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavic ...

that, despite not requiring surgery, ultimately ended his season early. On November 27, 2021, Gabriel announced via social media that he would be transferring from UCF.

Oklahoma

On December 16, 2021, Gabriel originally announced he would transfer to

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA). However, less than three weeks later, Gabriel announced he would transfer to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

on January 3, 2022. On December 4, 2023, after two seasons with the Sooners, Gabriel announced that he would be leaving Oklahoma and again entering the transfer portal.

Oregon

On December 9, 2023, Gabriel announced that he would be transferring to

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. In his debut with the Ducks, he passed for 380 yards. He became the eighth college quarterback to surpass 15,000 passing yards. Gabriel is ranked second all-time in career passing yards.

College statistics

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

He was drafted by the

in the 3rd round of the

, at 94th overall, which the Browns previously acquired in a trade that sent

Amari Cooper Amari Cooper (born June 17, 1994) is an American professional American football, football wide receiver. He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alabama Crimson Tide, winning the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top rec ...

to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Personal life

Gabriel proposed to his high school sweetheart, Zo Caswell, on September 1, 2024, the day after his debut at Oregon.

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bioUCF Knights bioOklahoma Sooners bioOregon Ducks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabriel, Dillon 2000 births Living people American football quarterbacks Players of American football from Honolulu County, Hawaii Oklahoma Sooners football players UCF Knights football players Oregon Ducks football players Native Hawaiian sportspeople Pacific Islander American players of American football Cleveland Browns players