Joel Klatt views Oregon as the perfect fit for Oklahoma transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

The star Sooner announced over the weekend he will spend his final season of college ball in Eugene, picking up the reins after Bo Nix departs town. It feels like a win-now move for coach Dan Lanning and offensive coordinator Will Stein, who will move from Nix — the sport’s all-time leader in career starts — to Gabriel — who has a chance to break Nix’s starts record with another full season.

“This is a perfect spot for him, it’s a perfect coaching staff, and this roster is loaded,” Klatt said this week on his podcast. “Oregon’s not going anywhere. And, in so many ways, they are the best-suited of the four West Coast teams going to the Big Ten. They’re the best built right now to go in and have success right away in the Big Ten.”

Klatt called Nebraska and USC wild cards in the Big Ten next season. Penn State figures to be strong once again, but the Nittany Lions haven’t beaten Michigan since 2020 and they haven’t beaten Ohio State since 2016; they’ve mauled the bottom of the conference without threatening the top.

Oregon could realistically walk into its new league as a top-three team and challenge for a spot in the Big Ten title game right away.

Klatt harkened back to when he called the Oregon-Utah game and dove into the Ducks’ two-deep. He recalled it being littered with young players in roles right away for the Ducks.

Under Lanning, they’ve successfully reloaded on offense and shown serious year-over-year improvement on defense. Lanning has shown an ability to hit home runs in the portal and supplement that with gems in high school recruiting.

Gabriel figures to have a strong receiving corps to throw to. And betting on the Ducks to field another high-quality offensive line is a pretty safe bet to make. As such, Klatt believes Gabriel is one of the top five contenders right now for the 2024 Heisman Trophy.

“Did you get the right pieces to really impact your season? And as of right now, the most impactful transfer piece of this offseason is Dillon Gabriel to Oregon,” Klatt said.