For the first time in the Mike McDaniel era, the Miami Dolphins failed to make the postseason, as they finished the 2024 regular season with an 8-9 record, good for second in the AFC East.
While the Dolphins didn’t look their best whenever they were healthy, the team continued to struggle when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missed time for another concussion. Miami was 6-5 in Tagovailoa’s 11 starts and 2-4 in the six games with Tyler Huntley or Skylar Thompson under center.
That’s a big reason why the Dolphins signed former New York Jets and Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson to a one-year, $6 million contract this offseason. However, they may look to add a rookie to the quarterback room as well.
Interestingly, the Sporting News’ Bill Bender recently projected that Miami will select Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the fourth round (No. 135 overall) of the upcoming 2025 NFL draft.
Gabriel, 24, played high school football at Mililani High School in Mililani, Hawaii, before committing to the University of Central Florida for the 2019 season. In three years with the Knights, he earned All-AAC honors once and completed 60.7% of his passes for 8,037 yards, 70 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 26 games.
In 2022, Gabriel transferred to Oklahoma and started 24 games over two years, completing 66.0% of his passes for 6,828 yards, 55 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also earned All-Big 12 honors twice.
Gabriel left the Sooners and joined the Oregon Ducks for the 2024 season and went on to complete 72.9% of his passes for 3,857 yards, 30 touchdowns and six interceptions in 14 games on his way to First-team All-Big Ten honors, First-team All-American honors and a third-place finish in the Heisman race.
Gabriel’s skill set should be a strong fit in McDaniel’s system in South Florida, considering his accuracy and efficiency in the short passing game. He may even be able to take over for Tagovailoa if the former first-round pick steps away from the game or the Dolphins decide to move on. It would be very interesting to see if Gabriel could even wrestle the backup job away from Wilson as a rookie.
