The Cleveland Browns quarterback competition has no shortage of storylines, and most of the attention has been focused squarely on Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. But there is a third quarterback in that building who keeps getting overlooked, and one analyst is making the case that Dillon Gabriel deserves far more respect than he is currently receiving heading into training camp.
Former scout Daniel Kelly took to social media to make a statistical argument on Gabriel’s behalf that caught plenty of attention.
“People keep disrespecting Dillon Gabriel (59.5%) without even realizing he was more accurate than Caleb Williams (58.1%) and Shedeur Sanders (56.6%) last season,” Kelly wrote.
People keep disrespecting Dillon Gabriel (59.5%) without even realizing he was more accurate than Caleb Williams (58.1%) and Shedeur Sanders (56.6%) last season.
— FIRST ROUND MOCK (@firstroundmock) June 13, 2026
Gabriel completed 59.5% of his passes across 10 games in 2025 with the Browns, throwing for 937 yards with 7 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. Those are solid numbers for a 3rd round rookie who was not expected to see the field much in his first season.
But the comparison to Caleb Williams is not a fair one. Williams was the 1st overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and has started all 34 games of his career with the Chicago Bears, throwing for 7,483 yards with 47 touchdowns over 2 seasons. His 58.1% completion rate last year came while attempting 568 passes in a full starting role against every defensive scheme the NFL could throw at him. Gabriel attempted 185 passes in a much more limited role. Completion percentage across vastly different sample sizes is misleading.
None of that means Gabriel should be dismissed. The opposite is true. He earned genuine respect inside the Browns building last season, and his Baker Mayfield jersey post made clear that he is approaching year 2 with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. He is a legitimate competitor in this quarterback room, not a placeholder. At 25 years old, Gabriel deserves a fair shot to make his case when training camp opens.
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