Gabriel has an absolute howitzer for an arm. He also has nice touch. He's just short. Maybe it means something. Maybe it doesn't. But, he will get to compete.
Where do we get that he has an absolute howitzer for an arm? This is what I saw per PFF:
Gabriel's average downfield pass in 2024 traveled 7.0 yards, the seventh-lowest mark in the FBS. That’s the nature of Oregon's offense. In the season prior, Bo Nix — now with the Denver Broncos — had an average depth of target of 6.8 yards.
The difference between Nix and Gabriel is that Nix took advantage of downfield options. Gabriel’s big-time-throw rate was 3.2%, while Nix’s was 4.0%. It’s not the largest gap, but it’s significant when there were plenty of times Gabriel could’ve taken deep shots. And Gabriel was successful when he was throwing downfield, too; he simply turned down far too many opportunities, either because he hit his check-down too early or didn’t see them. On passing attempts of 20 yards or more, Gabriel earned an elite 94.7 PFF passing grade in 2024 — the fifth-best figure in college football.
I guess the problem that I see is - even if he has a strong arm - he doesn't really use it. I also didn't notice that his arm was that strong on a lot of passes. Perhaps there are other clips that I missed, though.
