UCF football can claim another starting quarterback in the NFL. Dillon Gabriel, who started his prestigious college career with the Knights, will be under center for the Cleveland Browns in London for their game Oct. 5 against the Minnesota Vikings.
The rookie gets the nod over veteran Joe Flacco, who has completed 58% of his passes with two touchdowns and six interceptions, second-most in the NFL. The Browns have struggled to a 1-3 start with the second-worst offense at 14 points per game. Coach Kevin Stefanski opted to turn to Gabriel and left fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders as the third-string emergency QB.
“You wait for the perfect time, you’re going to wait a whole lifetime,” Gabriel said after being named the starter Oct. 1. “So for me, I’ve always been ready.”
Gabriel will join Daunte Culpepper and Blake Bortles as the only UCF products to start at quarterback in the NFL. He’ll also be one of three left-handed QBs alongside the Falcons’ Michael Penix and the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa. If Jayden Daniels remains injured and Marcus Mariota starts again for the Commanders, Gabriel would also join him and Tagovailoa as starting quarterbacks born in Hawaii.
Before becoming the Browns’ third-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, Gabriel bounced around college football for six years, starting at UCF before heading to Oklahoma and finally Oregon, where he led the Ducks to a 14-0 start and a Rose Bowl berth in the College Football Playoff. He set records along the way and wore a traditional Hawaiian lei to the Heisman Trophy presentation.
Here’s what to know about Gabriel, including his background, college stats, age, height and more:
How old is Dillon Gabriel?
At 24 years old, Gabriel is old for a rookie, though he’s not as much of an outlier as he might have been in years past thanks to lightened eligibility restrictions such as the COVID pandemic. He wasn’t even the oldest quarterback taken in the 2025 NFL draft; Saints rookie Tyler Shough turned 26 on Sept. 28.
Dillon Gabriel ethnicity: Where is Dillon Gabriel from?
Gabriel was born Dec. 28, 2000 in Mililani, Hawaii, near the center of the island of Oahu. He is the latest in a line of quarterback prospects from Hawaii following Marcus Mariota and Tua Tagovailoa. In high school, Gabriel broke Tagovailoa’s state record with 10,048 passing yards.
Gabriel is a Native Hawaiian as both of his parents are part of the indigenous group. His father, Garrett, played quarterback at the University of Hawaii from 1986-1990. His mother, Dori, graduated from Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles and played college softball.
Dillon Gabriel college
Gabriel played six seasons of college football, starting at UCF in 2019. He transferred to Oklahoma in 2022 and again to Oregon in 2024. Gabriel finished tied with Case Keenum as the all-time FBS leader in touchdown passes with 155 and was second with 18,722 yards. Combining his passing scores and rushing TDs (plus the one he caught at UCF), he also holds the record by being responsible for 189 touchdowns. In 2024, Gabriel finished third in Heisman Trophy voting behind Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.
Here’s a breakdown of Gabriel’s college stats by school:
Dillon Gabriel vs Shedeur Sanders
The Browns drafted two quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL draft. They took Gabriel with the 94th overall pick in the third round, then made waves a day later when they picked Sanders with the 144th overall pick in Round 5. The Colorado quarterback led the nation in completing 74% of his passes in 2024, throwing for 4,137 yards and 37 touchdowns. Those raw numbers were better than those put together by Gabriel, even though the Oregon QB was a Heisman finalist and led his team undefeated through the Big Ten championship.
Sanders’ slide was the talk of the draft as some analysts had him pegged as a top-10 pick and most at least had him going in the first round. The 23-year-old played well in his preseason debut but had an atrocious second game, leaving him third on the depth chart behind Flacco and Gabriel heading into the season. Gabriel showed more consistency, leaving him to be first in line to take over for Flacco. Sanders remains the Browns’ emergency QB for now, but the battle isn’t over yet: If Gabriel struggles as well, coach Kevin Stefanski could turn to their other rookie later in the season.
Dillon Gabriel injury
In 2021, Gabriel was coming off a great season in which he finished fifth in the nation in passing yards. His follow-up campaign lasted only three games, though, when he broke his collarbone on the last play of a 42-35 loss against Louisville. That turned out to be his last play at UCF, as he chose to transfer to Oklahoma the following season.
Gabriel dealt with a hamstring issue in training camp that slowed his availability for the preseason. He started the Browns’ second preseason game against the Eagles.
How tall is Dillon Gabriel?
Gabriel measured at 5-foot-11 at the NFL combine in February 2025. The prototype for NFL quarterbacks is someone well over 6 feet tall (Joe Flacco is 6-foot-6, the same as the Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence), presumedly to easily see over the linemen and downfield.
Not every successful QB has fit this mold though: Super Bowl champ Russell Wilson is also 5-11, future Hall of Famer Drew Brees was 6-feet exactly, and current starters Kyler Murray and Bryce Young, both No. 1 overall picks, are 5-10.
Dillon Gabriel combine, 40 time
Gabriel did not run the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine in February ahead of the draft. During passing drills, the lefty struggled with accuracy, especially on out routes to the left side. He completed just 50% of his throws during drills at the combine. Several passes sailed out of his target’s reach. Some of his incompletions were drops by the receivers, particularly on his deep balls.
Dillon Gabriel stats
Gabriel has appeared at the end of two games so far in his young NFL career, going 3 of 4 for 19 yards and a touchdown. All of his completions came at the end of Cleveland’s blowout loss to Baltimore in Week 2.
Here are Gabriel’s stats from his two preseason games:
Contributing: Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Dillon Gabriel will be 3rd UCF quarterback to start in NFL. Is he Native Hawaiian?
Reporting by Dan Rorabaugh, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
