The Cleveland Browns are rolling with Shedeur Sanders as their starting quarterback and Dillon Gabriel seeing the field again this season appears unlikely.
The Browns have made the decision to stick with Sanders after he led them to a 24-10 victory against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12. Gabriel missed that game due to a concussion. He’s since been cleared but will now back up Sanders.
“The No. 1 job of a quarterback is to win,” Stefanski said. “So, excited to get that first win under his belt. And the next thing is improvement, and that’s what young players do. Certainly, young quarterbacks do. You get one game better, and that’s just from working at it. So, that’ll be our focus.”
Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot said it will be tough for Gabriel to reclaim the starting spot. It would likely take a few dismal performances from Sanders to send him back to the bench.
“If Shedeur is getting the job done, Dillon might not get back on the field,” Cabot said on 92.3 The Fan. “There might come a point where it makes sense to see a little bit more of him. But, I think the hope inside the building is probably, ‘let’s not let it get to that point.’”
Shedeur Sanders Provides Big Plays for Browns
Gabriel — a third-round pick — went just 1-5 in his starts and failed to provide a spark for the offense. In all, Gabriel completed 59.2% of his passes for 937 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski pointed to the chunk plays from Sanders as a reason for sticking with him.
“Obviously the [52-yard completion] to [rookie wide receiver Isaiah Bond] was very, very high degree of difficulty with that play. Are there things that he can do better? Absolutely. We’ve already talked about that with him,” Stefansi said. “He has the mentality that he will make the adjustments to the speed of the game, make the adjustments to what people are giving us to make those improvements.”
Stefanski did not shut the door on potentially going back to Gabriel in the future.
“I’m just going to focus on this week,” he said. “Not going to get much past this week.”
Browns Face Significant QB Decision
Getty ImagesThe Browns may still draft a quarterback in the first round if Shedeur Sanders doesn’t look like a long-term option.
Sanders has six games left to show he can be more than a short-term spark and make a legitimate case as Cleveland’s long-term answer. The Browns own two first-round picks in next year’s draft and will have a clear path to selecting a franchise quarterback if they decide to go that route. Fernando Mendoza, Dante Moore, and Ty Simpson headline the early group of prospects expected to be in play.
When Sanders took the field against the Raiders, he became the 42nd quarterback to start for the Browns since 1999. If he wants to stop Cleveland from dipping back into the draft for another swing at the position, Sanders will need to show meaningful growth down the stretch and prove he’s worth investing in.
“I still think I probably would still draft a quarterback in the first round because it’s really hard to know what you have in just six or seven starts with a rookie,” Cabot said.
Sanders’ next test comes on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers in front of a home crowd.
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