The Oregon Ducks are the only undefeated team in the College Football Playoff, thanks in large part to the absolute dominance of senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Gabriel, a fifth-year transfer from Oklahoma, is exactly what we expect from a Ducks quarterback – “old”, very experienced and extremely efficient.

You have a type.

One can’t help but notice the parallels with Bo Nix, another QB who dabbled in college football for eons before making the jump to the NFL Draft. Gabriel has six years He has extensive starting experience spread across several quality programs at UCF, Oklahoma and now Oregon.

After finishing third in a hotly contested Heisman race, Gabriel is poised for an explosive postseason with the Ducks. It won’t be easy for Oregon – their Rose Bowl showdown against Ohio State tomorrow is clearly an unfortunate draw for the No. 1 overall pick – but we’ve seen the Ducks overcome every challenge so far. There is every reason to believe that Gabriel can pass this test.

Franky, even if the Ducks are eliminated, Gabriel has done enough to catch the attention of NFL scouts. He won’t go in the first round – this is widely considered a weak draft for QBs – but Gabriel could land somewhere in the second or third round range and offer many desirable traits without the inherent pressure of first-round billing and a guaranteed pick Starting appearance.

Here are a few NFL teams that make a lot of sense for Gabriel.

The Cleveland Browns are expected to provide competition for Deshaun Watson next season. That can take a variety of forms, be it a veteran free agent (we all mean Kirk Cousins) or a rookie. Cleveland could go high enough in the first round to take someone like Cam Ward or Jalen Milroe, but if the Browns decide to focus elsewhere at the top of the board, Dillon Gabriel is a perfectly acceptable investment in the middle Round.

It’s hard to imagine Gabriel starting, but he could spend a year or two learning the ropes behind Watson before getting a serious shot at the driver’s seat. It’s hard to take the Browns seriously as a “winning” franchise, but Cleveland is just a year removed from an 11-win season. We’ve seen this Browns defense perform at a truly elite level. If the offense can reach anything close to competence, who’s to say the Browns can get back into the Wild Card race?

Gabriel isn’t known for his arm talent, but like his Ducks predecessor Bo Nix, he will come to the NFL with a lot of business knowledge from years of high-level college experience at the position. He processes the field quickly, is nimble outside the pocket and tends to move the chains efficiently – even if he isn’t uncorking explosive 50-yard bombs on the sideline. We all thought Oregon’s system incorrectly inflated Nix’s numbers, but hey, he clearly knows what he’s doing in the NFL. Maybe Ducks’ magical dust will rub off on Gabriel too.

The Browns need to start thinking about the future beyond Watson. It’s worth Gabriel going into the building to see what’s going on.

Dillon Gabriel was born to play in Arthur Smith’s offense. The Pittsburgh Steelers are committed to Russell Wilson for now, but there is also a need to think long-term. Wilson is 36 years old and won’t have too many top-class seasons left. With Justin Fields all but gone as a free agent, Gabriel will easily fill the role of backup and understudy, assuming Wilson re-signs with Steel City.

Speaking of parallels: One has to assume that Gabriel (1.90 meters) can learn from another short king at the QB position (Russ is 1.80 meters tall). There are similarities in approach, as Wilson’s early career was based on nimble feet and an improvisational nature. Gabriel is sure to pick up the offense quickly, and Russ is clearly an excellent mentor to learn from (whatever you want to say about his cheesy personal brand, the guy dominated the highest level of football for a decade).

The Steelers are also a prime example of winning in the NFL. It’s been a while since Mike Tomlin has been at the top, but the Steelers always find ways to pick up regular season wins and maintain a playoff presence. We all expected something bad to happen with Russ or Fields at the helm, and here we are: Pittsburgh sits comfortably at 10-6 despite a brutal schedule late in the season.

Arthur Smith loves to spread the wealth and play quick dink-and-dunk plays around the line of scrimmage. Gabriel can fulfill the prophecy in a way that Desmond Ridder never could.

You can poke holes in the Los Angeles Rams roster with the slightest of moves, but Sean McVay has earned his reputation as this generation’s coaching wunderkind. Matthew Stafford is getting old, his O-line is a mess and the Rams’ defense isn’t what it used to be – and yet Los Angeles is 10-6 and on its way to a division title.

This is a great environment to develop a quarterback. The Stetson-Bennett experiment seems unfortunate, but if the Rams can put the right young player behind Stafford, one has to imagine the transition of power will be smooth when the time comes. Gabriel should be able to pick up a complicated offense and learn the right lessons from Stafford, who is clearly one of the sharpest football minds of a generation.

It certainly feels like the Rams have established a foundation of competency under McVay. Once their draft assets come back into circulation and Los Angeles can restock their supporting cast, we could see the Rams hit their stride again. Perhaps at that point Gabriel will have taken the reins when Stafford retires, which is imminent.

This should definitely be Gabriel’s preferred target. Working for Stafford and taking advantage of Sean McVay’s QB whispers is enough to set almost anyone up for success.