Why Oklahoma Fans Should Be Excited About Jackson Arnold
There might be a lot of Oklahoma fans freaking out right now. Dillon Gabriel is in the transfer portal and I’m not going to act like that’s insignificant. Gabriel played very well for Oklahoma last year sporting a 30-6 TD to INT ratio while completing 69% of his throws. However, what if I told you that the Sooners were about to get an upgrade? Oklahoma fans should be really excited about the Jackson Arnold era.
Maybe Arnold won’t be an upgrade overnight but he certainly has the potential to become that. 247 Sports transfer portal analyst Clint Brewster said this recently and I 100% agree with him.
“It should be an easy transition for Arnold and Oklahoma moving on from Dillon Gabriel,” Brewster said. “New offensive coordinator Seth Littrell does some of the same stuff schematically that Jeff Lebby does, and Arnold fits it extremely well with his arm quickness and mobility. I have much respect for what Dillon Gabriel did in his couple of years at Oklahoma, but Arnold should be an upgrade with his accuracy and not miss the easy short to intermediate throws like Gabriel did at times.”
By the way, I really like Gabriel. I don’t want to disparage him at all. Gabriel was featured in the stock report series for a reason. I just don’t think the casual Oklahoma fan knows about Arnold yet.
Arnold, 19, was the Elite 11 MVP a year ago. As someone who watches that camp every year, I can tell you that he was the most impressive quarterback on the field. I don’t care if he won the MVP or not. He was the guy there. Arch Manning did not attend and Malachi Nelson was probably the closest to him but didn’t quite spin it as well.
During brief playing time as a freshman, Arnold completed 18/24 (75%) for 202 yards and two touchdowns. That’s after balling out his senior year of high school posting 3,476 yards and 33 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He also added 921 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns with his legs. Maybe wish he was a touch taller but we’ve seen plenty of guys at 6-foot-1 succeed.
I just don’t think it’s an accident that Gabriel is in the transfer portal. Get ready for the Jackson Arnold show. It’s coming and fans should be really excited about the future.
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