Dillon Gabriel will spend his final season of college ball at Oregon in 2024, and ESPN believes he can challenge for the Heisman Trophy.

On Saturday, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach looked ahead to the 2024 football season and highlighted early contenders for the Heisman. He has 11 quarterbacks listed among the 15 players named, and Gabriel is one of them. Here’s what Schlabach wrote about the incoming quarterback:

The one-time UCF starter unexpectedly entered the transfer portal after throwing for 3,660 yards with 30 touchdown passes and six interceptions at Oklahoma this past season. Oregon and USC were potential landing spots, and Gabriel announced Saturday he’s headed to Oregon. He should flourish in their offense as a replacement for Bo Nix, a Heisman Trophy finalist this year.

Gabriel committed to the Ducks on Saturday. He was viewed as one of the best available players in the transfer portal, and should minimal dropoff at the quarterback spot once Bo Nix exits town.

The 5-foot-11 Hawaii native brings 49 career starts to Eugene. Gabriel has thrown for 14,865 passing yards and 125 touchdowns during his time as a quarterback for the Knights and the Sooners. He has a career 63% completion rate and a 1.6% interception rate. He is 30 touchdown passes shy of tying Case Keenum’s career NCAA record and 4,352 passing yards shy of Keenum’s other all-time record.

This season, Gabriel was the nation’s ninth-best passer on deep balls, according to Pro Football Focus. (Bo Nix was eighth.) Among qualified passers overall, Gabriel posted the fourth-best Total QBR in the country (87.3).

Partnering with Tez Johnson, Traeshon Holden, and Jurrion Dickey in the pass game makes for a potentially lethal downfield passing attack.