The Cleveland Browns’ quarterback race is taking shape.
With Kenny Pickett suffering a hamstring injury, it now looks like the job is more Joe Flacco’s to lose than ever.
Notably, that also means the race is now to be his backup.
Pickett could be cut or traded, and rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders should go toe-to-toe for the QB2 spot.
That’s not great news for Gabriel.
According to a report by Zac Jackson of The Athletic, Gabriel hasn’t made a great impression in the early days of training camp:
“With the two rookie quarterbacks, there’s a clear order: Gabriel, the third-round pick, goes ahead of Sanders and gets more total reps, too. But to say Gabriel has had an up-and-down camp would be to at least slightly ignore that he’s been wildly down (and wildly inaccurate) in recent days. And though camp stats and camp completions don’t tell anything close to the whole story, Gabriel has done nothing to make anyone observing believe he’s ready to be trusted as a No. 2 quarterback,” Jackson wrote.
This should be a surprise to no one but the Browns.
The Browns’ decision to take Gabriel as early as the third round was highly questionable, debated, and even mocked to a degree.
He was never projected to be a starter at the next level, and the fact that they took him two full rounds before Shedeur Sanders was odd, to say the least.
Of course, there’s always a chance that he will turn out to be good, and all that experience in college might help make his transition to the pros much smoother.
But from a talent and upside perspective, Gabriel never looked to be at the top of the charts.
And while Sanders’ tape and physical traits aren’t impressive either, he looks like a higher-upside prospect right now.
Gabriel will continue to be ahead of him in the pecking order for now, but it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see that change if this trend continues.
NEXT: Browns Predicted To Make Big Move With Kenny Pickett
