The Cleveland Browns’ quarterback competition is looking a little grim right now.
Kenny Pickett is out with a hamstring injury, Shedeur Sanders suffered an injury of his own, and reports about Dillon Gabriel have been far from encouraging.
The third-round pick hasn’t looked good at all in practice, failing to hit wide-open receivers.
That’s why sports analyst Daryl Ruiter didn’t hold back on his assessment.
Talking to Ken Carman and Anthony Lima on 92.3 The Fan, Ruiter claimed that Dillon Gabriel isn’t an NFL starter.
Per Ruiter, Gabriel should be nothing more than a developmental player right now, and while there is still a chance that he could turn out to be a Colt McCoy type of backup, he has ‘no business’ being in the running to start a football game this season:
“He’s not an NFL QB. It’s not a height thing. He’s rolling out and can’t hit guys wide open. He’s not that good in the warmup periods,” he said.
📞"He's not an NFL QB. It's not a height thing. He's rolling out and can't hit guys wide open. He's not that good in the warmup periods."
🚨 @RuiterWrongFAN on @KenCarmanShow doubles down on his comments about Dillon Gabriel from this weekend.
🔊: https://t.co/7OXqXVa4Zl pic.twitter.com/Q8iNFhcSoX
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) August 4, 2025
This clearly isn’t what anybody wants to hear about Gabriel, but it’s far from a surprise.
For most of his collegiate career, Gabriel was seen as a future NFL backup at best.
His physical limitations are glaring, and he doesn’t have the elite traits that often help short quarterbacks make up for their lack of height.
The Browns seemed to be quite high on Gabriel and loved his fit in their offense.
But barring a shocking turn of events, he might not be ready to take the field at all this season.
NEXT: Browns Announce 3 Roster Moves
