Oregon
[WATCH] Oregon Ducks QB Dillon Gabriel Raves About Offensive Line, Jokes About Switching To Running Back
![[WATCH] Oregon Ducks QB Dillon Gabriel Raves About Offensive Line, Jokes About Switching To Running Back](https://i0.wp.com/images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_924,h_519,x_68,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/ducks_digest/01j7twb7rv6k9hdfvryd.jpg?ssl=1 "[WATCH] Oregon Ducks QB Dillon Gabriel Raves About Offensive Line, Jokes About Switching To Running Back")
The No. 9 Oregon Ducks dominated the Oregon State Beavers in a 49-14 victory that marks the largest margin on victory since 2018. The Ducks desperately needed to show improvements on offense after barely beating their first two unranked opponents in the 2024 college football season.
Safe to say, Oregon’s offense hummed at Oregon State.
The Ducks set season highs in points (49), total yards (546) and rushing yards (240). The offensive line did not allow a sack or a quarterback hurry for the first time this season (had allowed six sacks through two weeks.)
Impressively, Oregon did not punt in the game and produced points on every possession.
The Ducks also broke loose for explosive plays, finishing with10 plays of 20-plus yards after having just six such plays over the season’s first two games combined.
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel finished 20-of-24 for 291 yards and two touchdowns; added 64 yards on four carries and a touchdown. Gabriel came out hot with 15 straight completions, a career-long stretch to start a game. He has completed at least 83 percent of his passes in all three games this season.
After the dominating victory, Gabriel joked that he should switch to running back, evaluated his offensive line and revealed what changed for Oregon in Week 3.
Q: How did it feel to utilize your legs more in this game?
Gabriel: It feels good. I think a lot of people want me to switch to running back. I think in the new day and age in college football, they want quarterbacks to run. But I think it’s when it’s needed as well. I believe when we get into certain situations, there’s trust in my legs, but there’s also trust and belief in everyone up front to help me out as well.
Q: How important were the guys in setting the edge on you 54-yard run?
Gabriel: It’s all blocks downfield. I didn’t get touched on the run. It’s things people don’t see that help me make that play happen. I’m just proud of the guys up front, just the way they’ve competed and continued to do so. It’s been great to see.
Q: What did the offensive line do to keep you from being sacked?
Gabriel: I’ll start on my end. I think just creating completions and trying to get the ball out, but also moving when necessary and not staying in the pocket when I don’t have to. I do think the pass protection was good all day. I don’t think I was really touched. I can’t even explain how proud I am of them. They just continue to fight. Those are five guys you want to go to battle with or six or seven. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.
Q: What clicked on offense?
Gabriel: A bunch. I would love to tell you but then the Krabby Patty secret formula is out. Day-to-day within practices we changed things that could help us and benefit us, and that’s for every individual position group and then us as a unit, and then obviously us a whole team. I think we’ll continue to make adjustments, and that doesn’t stop, but of course you find the formula for your group and keeping building off of it.
Q: Do you feel finally comfortable out there today?
Gabriel: I think I’ve always felt that way, but more importantly I always tell the O-Line “If you give me the time, I’ll do the crime”. They’ve continued to do that. I’m proud of them. I think it goes to show that with any offense there’s offensive line playing at a high level it allows the quarterback to play efficient and clean, and of course the run-game hitting like it did… They killed it.
Q: You described the Boise State and Idaho games as “strenuous.” What is your word for today’s win?
Gabriel: Explosive. If you have explosive plays it helps you. We lacked that early on, but now you’re starting to see that happen. A four-play drive instead of 15. I think that’s common sense. It’s easier to mess up with 15 plays than with four. I think when you have explosive plays it helps. It creates momentum and it creates rhythm. It allows you to be on the plus-side of the field more. There’s just a lot that goes with that.
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The Jets, with their 16th pick of Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft, might have been tempted to move up to grab one of the set of hands that appealed to them in this draft class. But the Green & White remained patient and stayed put at 16 and were rewarded by being able to select Kenyon Sadiq, the draft’s top tight end out of Oregon.
“It’s unreal, man. Need to be the Jets. It’s special,” said Sadiq of being selected 16th overall and by the Green & White. “My sister currently lives in New York, so I’m happy to get down there. But great interactions with all the staff, in meetings and everything. So I’m beyond excited, super grateful.
“David Bailey said it already,” Sadiq added about Bailey, the Texas Tech edge taken second overall. “This organization is trending in the right direction. And I’m just a piece that can help and I’m ready to help. Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m going to do it.”
Sadiq, known by some as “Sadiq the Freak,” put his athleticism and receiving skills on full display last season with an Oregon single-season tight ends record of 51 catches for 560 yards and 8 receiving touchdowns, which led all FBS tight ends. He was named a second-team All-American and the Big Ten TE of the Year and was a finalist for the John Mackey Award, which goes to the nation’s top tight.
After the season’s end, Sadiq went to the NFL Combine in February and demonstrated some of that freakishness in dominating his position. He turned in a 4.39-second 40, best among TEs not only this year but for the past 14 Combines. He also notched a 43.5-inch vertical leap, an 11-1 broad jump and 26 reps in the bench press, all second at his position.
“I’ve got all the attributes,” he told the Jets media Thursday. “I mean, the Combine showed that.”
Sadiq joins a tight ends room that is now brimming with talent. Mason Taylor, last year’s second-rounder (42nd overall) out of LSU and Jeremy Ruckert, their 2022 third-rounder (101st) are already there and the group will be helpful not only to new/old veteran starting QB Geno Smith but also the Breece Hall-lead running game.
What exactly will Sadiq add to the room, the offense and the ’26 Green & White?
“I think it’s versatility, speed and toughness, bro, seriously,” he said. “I think I can help in the running and passing game on top of that. I’m sure I’m on special teams as well. That’s what I did at Oregon, and that’s what I’ll continue to do. I can create separation, but I can also go hit someone. Obviously, the NFL is different. I’m going to have to clean some things up. But, man, I’m going to go hit somebody. I’m not going to be scared.”
Sadiq is only the fourth Oregon player to be drafted by the Jets and the first in 20 years, since QB Kellen Clemens came to the Green & White in 2006 in Round 2. Other Ducks to become Jets through the draft were DB Reggie Grant in Round 9 of the 1978 draft and TE Blake Spence in the fifth round in 1998.
And the choice may well extend the Green & White’s track record of taking good to very good TEs in Round 1. Johnny Mitchell got the ball rolling in 1992 and was followed by Kyle Brady in 1996, Anthony Becht in 2000 and Dustin Keller in 2008.
The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.
Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.
However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.
Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.
“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”
Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.
“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”
Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.
The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.
Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.
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