The Cleveland Browns are back to square one.
They hoped that Dillon Gabriel would be their quarterback of the future, or at least play well enough to be a stopgap.
So far, that hasn’t been the case.
If anything, it’s become evident that he doesn’t have what it takes to be an NFL starter, and his flaws have little to do with coaching or development.
Browns insider Tony Grossi recently admitted that he misjudged Gabriel, and while Shedeur Sanders hasn’t played since the preseason, he doesn’t think he would be much worse.
He also used a rather interesting word to describe the situation.
“‘Mystifying’ is the word I would use to describe this whole Sanders year. If Sanders is still not better than what we’ve seen out of Gabriel, how bad must that be? I don’t know. We haven’t seen him since August in the preseason finale. All I know is that Gabriel, by any metric, has gotten progressively worse, which I totally unexpected. I was wrong,” Grossi said
Will Shedeur Sanders start against the Jets for the Browns? @TonyGrossi shares his thoughts… pic.twitter.com/V9qxarwenq
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) October 28, 2025
There seems to be a clear divide within the organization regarding Sanders.
It’s become evident that head coach Kevin Stefanski doesn’t trust him.
Yet, after watching Gabriel get progressively worse with each of his four starts, Stefanski may not have much of a choice.
After the bye week, it’s time to switch to Sanders and hope he can give this offense something to get it going.
NEXT: Browns Star Earns Major Praise For Week 8 Performance
