The Cleveland Browns have a four-man quarterback competition going into the 2025 season, and third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel might be the forgotten man of the group.
Gabriel hasn’t gotten much attention since the team also drafted Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round, and Sanders has come with an extraordinary amount of fanfare and attention that has overshadowed the fact that Gabriel led his Oregon Ducks to the playoff last year, was a Heisman Trophy finalist, and was selected two rounds before him in the draft.
By all accounts, Gabriel has been impressive thus far, as Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot recently highlighted what his “superpower” is.
“So, what must Gabriel do to leapfrog the two veteran signal-callers and start on opening day? His superpower in the competition is his computer-like processing speed and decision-making, and it’s where he can get a leg up in the competition. During spring practices, including rookie minicamp, organized team activities and mandatory minicamp, Gabriel looked solid and held his own, but he can really make his move in camp during joint practices against the Panthers and Eagles, and the preseason games,” Cabot wrote.
It’s hard to believe either Gabriel or Sanders has a path to the starting job, even though both are currently entrenched in the competition.
The first half of Cleveland’s schedule is brutal, so it would make more sense to make a switch to one of the rookies later on, once they get more comfortable.
The team also needs to see what it has with Kenny Pickett, who the Browns traded a fifth-round pick for, and Kevin Stefanski has been open about Pickett having every chance to compete for the starting gig and praising his strengths for being a great fit within his offense.
It’s fair for the fans to be excited about Sanders, but Gabriel is going to get every opportunity Sanders will, and the team needs to figure out if either one can be the long-term solution at the position ahead of the 2026 draft.
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