The Cleveland Browns are allowing Dillon Gabriel a chance to shine, but most have come away unimpressed with the third-round pick.
Gabriel is part of the four-man competition for the starting quarterback spot. He’s battling with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders. Gabriel has received more reps than Sanders, particularly with the starting offense. However, the former Oregon quarterback has not looked sharp.
“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,” Zac Jackson of The Athletic said. “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.”
Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan had an even stronger take on Gabriel being ahead of Sanders so far in camp.
“I don’t know how to say this, but Dillon Gabriel shouldn’t be ahead of the ball boys,” Ruiter said. “Every time I watch him I think to myself, they can’t be serious with this kid.”
Browns QB Dillon Gabriel ‘Learning’ From Rough Reps
Gabriel has received a larger chunk of the reps with Pickett battling through a hamstring injury. Pickett returned to practice on Friday but has been limited to individual drills. In addition, Sanders didn’t participate in team drills on Saturday due to arm soreness.
It put a larger spotlight on Gabriel, and even Browns coach Kevin Stefanski admitted it was a learning experience for the rookie.
“You know, there’s the old adage that it’s never as bad as you think or never as good as you think, as a coach, when you go in to watch the tape,” Stefanski said. “I would tell you with any of our players, and in particular Dillon (Gabriel), who wants to be great and wants to be great at practice, there’s times that you’re going to go through a tough period out here at practice, a tough seven on seven, a tough team period, whatever it may be. And then you really try to learn from those reps.”
Browns Owner Wants to See Rookie Quarterbacks Play
Flacco is the favorite to win the Week 1 job. However, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam made it a point to say in his training camp press conference that it’s essential to see their rookies — Gabriel and Sanders — get some game action this season.
“Absolutely, absolutely. Kevin (Stefanski) is aware of that, he knows how important quarterback is and he and Andrew (Berry) talk about those kinds of things all the time,” Haslam said. “It’s a daily, ongoing conversation.”
The Browns hold two first-round picks in next year’s draft. The team could use those assets to find its next franchise quarterback. However, they first need to evaluate the talent they have on the roster.
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