Dillon

Gabriel

This won’t qualify as surprising news, but Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are battling for the pecking order after the gate is lowered. “But the reality is that either Gabriel or Sanders staying in the team’s plans and being deemed worthy of further development would count as a win,” Jackson notes while praising Sanders’ “obvious gifts.” Both quarterbacks are in the dynasty conversation, but they should be treated as stashes at this point.

“Flacco throws the ball in a practice setting better than any of (the other quarterbacks),” per Jackson. His experience under head coach Kevin Stefanski during their 2023 stint also likely bodes well for Flacco’s chances, at least early on, but there’s a good chance we see three or four different quarterbacks take the field for the Browns in 2025, depending on how their season unfolds. Coming off a three-win season, it’s fair to say expectations are far from high for the Browns, who ranked in the bottom five in points scored and points allowed last season and started four different quarterbacks due to poor play and injuries. Shedeur Sanders, who is expected to draw the most hype of any Browns QB in preseason, notably worked fourth in the QB rotation at OTAs.

Rather than dish out even reps to his quarterback room this offseason, Stefanski said the goal will be “to give everybody enough reps where we can learn more about them and prepare them to get ready to play.” While it’s possible things still shake out more evenly than what’s being suggested here, it’s worth pointing out that veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett could find themselves on the shorter end of reps as rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are more likely to be the team’s long-term answer at the position. Stefanski will undoubtedly want to have his entire QB room prepared for the start of the season as he enters the season fresh off an underwhelming 2024 campaign that saw his team go 3-14, but giving two rookies ample reps in camp could bode well for his team’s outlook beyond this season.

Stefanski in a recent interview was complimentary of the Browns’ fifth-round draft selection without giving away too much about how the team’s quarterback competition might play out over the next few months. “None of these guys are finished products, and Shedeur certainly has things he can work on,” Stefanski said, adding Sanders is unbothered by his slide in the 2025 NFL Draft. “But in terms of the person, in terms of the kid who’s willing to work, I think that’s who we’re getting. ... We’re getting a guy that really is not so concerned about where he landed in this draft, but he is willing to put in the work and that’s what we’re going to do.” Sanders will compete for the Browns’ Week 1 starting job with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel, who last week took reps ahead of Sanders during Cleveland’s rookie minicamp.

As Easterling notes, Gabriel was drafted 50 picks ahead of Sanders, so this should be the expectation. Given Sanders’ star power, though, it would have been unsurprising to see the Browns let the two rookies take turns entering drills as the QB1. Ultimately, both Gabriel and Sanders were given “equal reps” and drew praise from fellow rookie, TE Harold Fannin, who thinks both players are “going to be great.” Regardless, Gabriel appears to at least be nominally ahead of Sanders on the depth chart, for the time being.

If the season started tomorrow, in Kay Cabot’s estimation, the starter would be Kenny Pickett. She says that the Browns made clear to Pickett that he “could control his own destiny with a stellar performance” when they traded Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round pick to the Eagles. This, of course, does not mean that Sanders can’t make the Browns. Neither of the other three quarterbacks in the room have any recent NFL success to hang their hat on — the closest thing is Joe Flacco’s performance in 2023 with the Browns. But it does mean that he’s starting at the bottom of the pack.

Yet another quarterback goes ahead of Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, who is now locked in to Day Three draft status. Gabriel will likely compete with Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett for starting duties, though he could be relegated to third string duties in 2025. Gabriel (5’11/205) is a left-handed quarterback who enters the draft after a six-year college career that saw stints at UCF, Oklahoma, and Oregon. The former three-star prospect had the opportunity to start for UCF as a true freshman, and threw for 3,653-29-7 in his first season while adding another 78 yards and four scores on the ground. He would go on to start the next two seasons for the Knights, but made just three appearances in 2021 due to a broken clavicle that caused him to miss the remainder of the season. He took up the mantle at Oklahoma in 2022 after Caleb Williams followed head coach Lincoln Riley to USC earlier in the offseason, and thrived in two seasons with the Sooners, posting a career line of 6,828-55-12. He would go on to finish his career at Oregon, throwing for 3,857-30-6 under coach Dan Lanning while finishing third in Heisman voting. Gabriel leaves college football tied with Case Keenum for the most touchdown passes in FBS history (155). He possesses sneaky rushing upside, rushing for over 1,800 yards in his career if you remove yards lost due to sacks and punched in 33 scores on the ground during his career. Gabriel is undersized for a prototypical NFL quarterback and saw 32 passes batted down at the line, per PFF. That said, he does a good job of using his feet to his advantage to create on the run, and has displayed decent accuracy in the short areas of the field. Like Bo Nix during his time at Oregon, Gabriel was a short-yardage merchant last season with the Ducks, as 65.6 percent of his throws traveled less than 10 air yards.

After missing last week’s game against Texas, Gabriel was back in the saddle for this one. Completing 69% of his passes on the afternoon, Gabriel’s two touchdowns on the afternoon came from 24 and 26 yards out, while he also added a one-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter. The Sooners mustered only a field goal in the fourth quarter, but holding a 49-28 lead after three quarters proved to be enough cushion to give them the win. Now heading into their bye week, the Sooner will return on October 29th for a conference matchup against Iowa State.

Gabriel (6'0/200) made his way up near the top in the 2021 FBS quarterback rankings, and stands a chance at doing so once again in 2022. He’s entering a change of scenery, moving on from UCF to Oklahoma after suffering an injury that derailed his progress last season. He finished out 2021 with a 68.6% completion rate, passing for 814 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. While Bryce Young (Alabama) and CJ Stroud (Ohio State) are among the headliners in the predictions for who will win the Heisman Trophy, Gabriel is among those who have been named an early long-shot for the honors. Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus listed him at the top of his long-shots list at +3000. That put him directly ahead of Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke (+3500).

Gabriel (6'0/200) was one of the nation’s top-ranked quarterbacks last season before he was derailed by an injury. He’s poised to return to the status with a change of scenery, recently transferring from UCF to Oklahoma. He’s been solid in more than one statistical category over the past three seasons of his career -- according to Pro Football Focus, his 59 passing touchdowns from a clean pocket are the third-most by a quarterback since 2019. If the Sooners adequately protect him, they’re in for some big things on offense.