Mussatto: Despite Dillon Gabriel's audible, OU football in great spot with Jackson Arnold

OU’s quarterback succession plan was seemingly in place before the season started. Veteran southpaw Dillon Gabriel would quarterback the Sooners for a second and final season in 2023 before going pro, thus handing the offense over to the ballyhooed Jackson Arnold in 2024.

Arnold will indeed take over, but not in the way we expected.

Rather than declaring for the NFL Draft, Gabriel entered the transfer portal and will use his last year of college eligibility to play elsewhere. Gabriel’s decision remains confounding. He pulled a Logan Roy and scrapped the original succession plan.

“I think Dillon had every intention to go to the NFL,” OU coach Brent Venables said Thursday in an Alamo Bowl press conference from San Antonio. “In his mind, this was going to be his last season.”

In Gabriel’s mind. In Venables’ mind. In all of our minds.

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Of course, it’s fine to change one’s mind, but for what reason? NIL dollars? I’m sure Gabriel would’ve been well taken care of at OU. Jeff Lebby leaving? Maybe, but is Gabriel really going to follow Lebby to Starkville, Mississippi?

“He’s the best person to testify in regards to how he came to the decision to play another year collegiately,” said Venables, who spoke for Gabriel as best he could. “But quite frankly, we did plan going into the ‘24 season without Dillon Gabriel.”

So, no change on the Sooners’ part. They weren’t banking on a Gabriel return, anyway. They’ve got their guy in Arnold.

But now knowing that Gabriel wanted to play another year of college, surely the Sooners would’ve welcomed him back, right?

“Certainly he was more than welcome to stay, continue to compete, be the quarterback at the University of Oklahoma,” Venables said. “But that’s just what decision he came to.

“He would be the best person to really go into more depth and detail about what all went into that.”

Gabriel, as Venables noted, was on the other side of this situation at UCF. When ex-Knights quarterback McKenzie Milton announced in December 2020 that he was transferring, Milton, a beloved quarterback at UCF, said, “It’s DG’s team now.”

As in Dillon Gabriel. Gabriel, unlike Arnold at OU, had already proven himself at UCF. Gabriel showed promise as UCF’s quarterback while Milton recovered from a gruesome knee injury.

Milton transferred to Florida State, and Gabriel only played in three games for UCF in 2021 before suffering a season-ending injury. That next offseason, Gabriel entered the portal, first committing to UCLA before signing with OU.

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Gabriel’s two seasons in Norman coincided with Venables’ first two years as head coach. Gabriel was more than a bridge quarterback. His stellar play, and veteran leadership, brought stability to a program that was in flux.

Gabriel threw for 3,660 yards this season, completing 69% of his passes with 30 touchdowns against just six interceptions. He rushed for 12 touchdowns.

The Sooner offense, behind Lebby and Gabriel — both of whom are now gone — was among the best in the nation. OU’s 43.2 points per game ranked third behind LSU and Oregon.

Now the Ducks are seen as a top contender to land Gabriel.

Under that hypothetical, will Oregon, with Gabriel at the helm, or Oklahoma with Arnold be better at quarterback in 2024?

The safe bet is Gabriel. We’ve seen him play quarterback at an elite level. Arnold, a five-star phenom from Denton, Texas, is expected to be elite, but you never know.

Arnold likely has the higher ceiling, and projects as a better pro prospect, but Arnold will have been deserving of the hype if he turns out to be as good as Gabriel.

The Sooners, to be clear, are in an enviable spot. They’re replacing one of the best quarterbacks in the country with a guy in Arnold who’s thought to be the next big thing.

Gabriel changed the succession plan, but Arnold remains the heir apparent in Norman.

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football in great spot with Jackson Arnold following Dillon Gabriel