One of the more interesting and perhaps unexpected developments in the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback competition, at least to outsiders, is the training camp emergence of Dillon Gabriel. Seen throughout the spring as a two-man battle between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, it may be morphing into a three-man controversy as Gabriel continues to impress.
Unfortunately, that could do more harm than good. If the Browns truly believe that Gabriel is a contender for the starting job, they will, at some point, have to give him legitimate practice reps with the first team. If so, that will take time away from both Watson and Sanders, making them more difficult to evaluate and costing them valuable snaps with the top unit.
Analyst Anthony Lima is warning the Browns about giving extra reps to Gabriel, saying the team doesn’t have time to make this situation any more complicated.
“Think about what Todd’s saying. Todd’s saying that Dillon Gabriel’s earning more reps. Like to hear somebody earning something, but what does that also mean? That means they’re taking away from others. They don’t have a lot of time for this. Once we get into this, preseason game and the Buffalo joint practice. We gotta know who the quarterback is. Just be cognizant of that. As much as it’s great that Dillon Gabriel is earning something, that also means that it’s gonna come at the expense of the other guys and how muddy do they want to make this quarterback situation,” Lima said.
"Are we gonna attack Todd Monken for having that opinion…the head coach of the football team?"
➡️ @KenCarman and @SportsBoyTony react to the #Browns head coach's comments on Dillon Gabriel https://t.co/fHuFgDZbg7 pic.twitter.com/AuhZulE3tj
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) August 4, 2026
Gabriel has been working with the third team for most of minicamps and OTAs, and in the first week of training camp. That means he is not going up against the Browns’ elite first-string defense in practice, so his play can be accompanied by some skepticism.
But the only way to find that out is to put him to work with the first-string offense and see if he can continue to run Todd Monken’s offense effectively. The fact that the head coach seems to be on board with this line of thinking could mean that he likes what he sees from Gabriel.
Of course, it could simply be a way to further motivate Watson and Sanders, who reportedly have failed to impress during early camp practices, with interceptions seen as a lingering issue. Yet, if those two need to be challenged by Cleveland’s likely QB3 to compete for a starting NFL job, that may say more about them than anything else.
The ultimate goal of training camp is to find the Browns’ starting quarterback for this season, and if it happens to be Gabriel, the organization will have other major decisions to make down the line.
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