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Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel Lands on Initial CFB Watch List

The Sooners' returning starter is among 46 quarterbacks, including three former OU quarterbacks, on the Maxwell Award preseason watch list

John E. Hoover

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Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel landed on the Maxwell Award Watch List on Monday.

The Sooners’ fifth-year senior from Mililani, HI, is one of 84 players included on the preseason watch list, which includes 46 quarterbacks. The Maxwell Award is given annually to the top overall player in college football. Gabriel is the only Sooner.

Three former OU quarterbacks — SMU's Chandler Morris, South Carolina's Spencer Rattler and reining Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams of USC — are also on the list. A total of 11 players from the Big 12 Conference are included.

Gabriel transferred to OU from Central Florida last year and quarterbacked the Sooners to a 6-7 record, although he missed OU’s 49-0 loss to Texas due to a concussion.

Gabriel is a returning starter at OU and one of the most prolific active QBs in college football.

Gabriel ranks third nationally among active QBs in passing yards per game (294.9) and is second in total offense per game (312.9). He’s also fourth nationally with 11,205 passing yards and fourth with 95 touchdown passes.

The Maxwell Award Watch List is the first of 16 over the next two weeks to be revealed by the National College Football Awards Association.

For the first time in 2023, the NCFAA will package and brand national players of the week as 12 awards are set to unveil weekly honors each Tuesday this season. The first announcements will come on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

The NCFAA's annual showcase, The Home Depot College Football Awards, will air live on ESPN in early December with the exact date to be announced shortly.

The preseason watch lists scheduled to be revealed over the next two weeks:

NCFAA Watch Lists

  • Mon., July 31: Maxwell Award (top player)
  • Tue., Aug 1: Outland Trophy (top lineman) and Bronko Nagurski (defensive player) Trophy
  • Wed., Aug. 2: Lou Groza Award (kicker) and Ray Guy Award (punter)
  • Thu., Aug. 3: Paul Hornung Award (all-purpose) and Wuerffel Trophy (citizenship)
  • Fri., Aug. 4: Mackey Award (tight end) and Rimington Trophy (center)
  • Mon., Aug. 7: Biletnikoff Award (receiver)
  • Tue., Aug. 8: Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback)
  • Wed., Aug. 9: Doak Walker Award (running back)
  • Thu., Aug. 10: Butkus Award (linebacker) and Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back)
  • Fri., Aug. 11: Walter Camp Award (top player)
  • Mon., Aug. 14: Bednarik Award (defensive player)
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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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