With the college football season now behind us, the pre-draft process is ramping up, and we’re seeing some of the best players in the nation head down to Mobile, Alabama to participate in the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl.
The Oregon Ducks are sending the most players of anyone in the nation, with eight players participating in the week-long event, leading up to Saturday’s Senior Bowl showcase.
One of the group’s leading members is Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was among the Heisman Trophy finalists in 2024. Gabriel will go to Mobile representing the Ducks, but with a special twist, the multi-team transfer is going an extra step to have all of his former teams included.
This will be showcased by Gabriel’s special VICIS ZERO2 QB helmet, which is the first-ever helmet engineered to provide position-specific protection for quarterbacks.
On Gabriel’s black helmet, one side will feature the silver Oregon wings, but the other side will have the Oklahoma Sooners logo on it. On the back of the helmet will be the UCF Golden Knights logo.
Photo Courtesy of AJ Salas, VICIS.
Photo Courtesy of AJ Salas, VICIS.
Photo Courtesy of AJ Salas, VICIS.
Photo Courtesy of AJ Salas, VICIS.
Photo Courtesy of AJ Salas, VICIS.
All three logos represent Gabriel’s stops along the way during his college journey. He started his career at UCF, where he spent three years with the Golden Knights from 2019-2021, throwing for 8,037 yards and 70 touchdowns. He spent the next two years of his career in Norman, Oklahoma, where he threw for 6,828 yards and 55 touchdowns.
The last step of Gabriel’s college journey came in the form of one season at Oregon, where he threw for 3,857 yards and 30 touchdowns while leading the Ducks to a Big Ten Championship and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
All schools were meaningful steps along the way for Gabriel, and they hold a special place in his heart, and on his helmet.
The Senior Bowl kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 11: 30 a.m. PST and will be aired on NFL Network.