The Cleveland Browns’ decision to take Dillon Gabriel in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft turned some heads at the time.
Some people had him as a Day 3 selection, while others claimed he shouldn’t have even been drafted.
Gabriel looked solid in training camp and even better in the preseason, and it seemed that he could’ve been the right guy to lead this offense.
However, through two starts, that hasn’t been the case.
With that in mind, Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report gave him an ‘F’ grade for his Week 6 performance.
“All Cleveland Browns quarterbacks must endure the initiation test of losing to the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Dillon Gabriel is the latest to do so. Either Gabriel plays well enough to warrant full-time starting consideration, or he’ll eventually give way to Shedeur Sanders as Cleveland’s front office continues its evaluation. Gabriel’s biggest weakness has been an inability to drive the ball downfield. Against the Steelers, he completed only four of 15 pass attempts that were 10 or more yards downfield, according to ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. He’s now 7-of-25 through two starts,” Sobleski wrote.
To be fair, Gabriel almost led the team to a win in his first start, and it wasn’t an ideal setting.
He was making his first start with little to no talent at wide receiver, in London, and facing one of the best and most aggressive defenses in the game.
Then, he came back home to play in a city where his team hadn’t won a regular-season game in more than two decades and to face a team coming off a bye week.
Once again, he was set to play against a very good defense and pass-rush.
He should also get a bit of a pass because of the over-conservative play-calling, and chances are that no other player would’ve done much better in his situation.
Still, this boring and predictable offense isn’t going to get him anywhere.
And unless he starts taking some shots down the field, he won’t be out there for much longer.
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