How tall is OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel? Who cares, considering how accurate he is.

NORMAN — Dillon Gabriel is realistic.

The OU quarterback knows his relatively diminutive size, listed at 5-foot-11, will hold him back in some minds.

Might even limit his opportunities in the NFL once his time with the Sooners is up.

But Gabriel isn’t about to start worrying about it now.

“I think it’s just something I was born with … can’t control,” Gabriel said. “You can’t control that one, right? Everything I do in the building and the way I work is what I can control and just being really good at that. Knowing that I’m not 6-foot-5, but I’m going to get it done whichever way I can.”

There was a time when Gabriel’s size would be disqualifying, when it would have made it nearly impossible to earn a Division I scholarship at a program like OU much less to make it in the NFL.

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But views have shifted, both in the NFL and among college coaches.

Nowhere is that more evident than at OU, where a string of relatively undersized quarterbacks have taken the Sooners’ offense to lofty heights over the last decade.

Saturday, Gabriel will become the latest in a line of undersized OU quarterbacks when he makes his Sooners debut against UTEP (2:30 p.m., Fox).

Jeff Lebby knew what to expect in 2018 when he went to Hawaii to recruit Gabriel while Lebby was the offensive coordinator at Central Florida.

Lebby had seen Gabriel on film. Gabriel’s size was far from Lebby’s biggest takeaways.

Instead, it was Gabriel’s accuracy.

“You see that all over the tape through his high school ball,” said Lebby, now the Sooners’ offensive coordinator. “You don’t have that much production in high school without having anticipation and accuracy. When you’re talking about the quarterback position, two things we’re always evaluating, always looking at. He has both. He’s had both for a long time.”

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Over the last 10 NFL Drafts, the 30 quarterbacks who have been taken in the first round averaged a bit taller than 6-foot-3.

Just four of those 30 measured smaller than 6-foot-2. Two of those — Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield — quarterbacked the Sooners. Of the three former OU quarterbacks starting in the NFL now — Murray, Mayfield and Jalen Hurts — none are taller than 6-foot-1.

Brent Venables wasn’t at OU when Mayfield, Murray and Hurts starred, but Venables certainly watched closely. During his coaching career, Venables has seen a gradual shift in how quarterbacks who lean more on intangibles rather than measurables are received.

“People have become more accepting of that from a recruiting standpoint,” Venables said. “We’re looking for guys that have all the intangibles, ones that know how to win and throw with anticipation. They’re accurate, they can extend plays, keep their eyes down the field and are tough to handle. Better teams have struggled against quarterbacks like that. That probably promoted the idea that, ‘OK, maybe it’s OK to not look like the prototypical measurements and measurables.'”

What gives Gabriel the chance to overcome his physical limitations, Venables said, is accuracy.

“The ones that are incredibly accurate, that’s a gift,” Venables said. “You can get better, but accuracy to me is a natural trait. I coached linebackers, so there might be thousands of quarterback coaches telling me I’m crazy. But I think accuracy is an instinctive thing. It’s a natural gift, throwing with anticipation, creating opportunities for guys and throwing to windows that you know are going to open before they open.”

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While Gabriel plays for the same program that produced Mayfield, Murray and Hurts, it might be another Hawaii native who most lines up with Gabriel’s skillset.

The running game was a big part of what made Mayfield, Murray and Hurts effective.

Murray flashed world-class speed in running for more than 1,000 yards in 2018 when he won the Heisman Trophy.

A year later, Hurts used his bruising running style to rack up 1,298 yards and 20 touchdowns and lead the Sooners in rushing.

Mayfield wasn’t the runner the other two were, but still showed elusiveness in running for nearly 900 yards during his three seasons.

During his time at Central Florida, Gabriel rushed for just 372 yards. Just twice in 26 career games has Gabriel rushed for more than 50 yards.

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At Alabama from 2017-19, Tua Tagovailoa never topped the 50-yard rushing mark in a game and finished his career with 340 rushing yards.

Like Tagovailoa, Gabriel isn’t generally one to take off and run at the first opportunity.

“He has great pocket presence and awareness,” Venables said of Gabriel. “He can extend plays. He’s one of the unique quarterbacks who can certainly run with it and move the chains, which will frustrate a defense. But he also keeps his eyes down the field.”

Gabriel is running a different offense than the one Mayfield, Murray and Hurts ran during their time in Norman.

But if Gabriel is successful at OU and beyond, he owes something to the smaller quarterbacks that came before him.

OU vs. UTEP

KICKOFF: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman (Fox)

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Dillion Gabriel's height no issue for Sooners quarterback