ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky advocated for Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders to start for the Cleveland Browns this season. Based upon evaluation, and despite having veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett on the roster, the Browns should start one of their rookies.
Gabriel was surprisingly picked in the third round while Sanders slid to the fifth. Still, it seems like Cleveland believes in both quarterbacks to give them every opportunity.
But if Kevin Stefanski and crew want to see what they have, you might as well roll with one of the rookies, Orlovsky says. If it doesn’t work, their futures could be murky but there’s a big QB class coming in 2026.
“Yeah, I would do everything I can to start either Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel this year,” Orlovsky said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I would only start Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett and probably Joe if, oh my gosh, this is a disaster. And if you’re Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry, their head coach and general manager, go, ‘Hey, if one of these two kids starts, we’re going to get fired,’ if it’s that bad throughout the preseason, (that’s when you start a vet). So I think Joe is just there, certainly for (safety) …
“The reps, you know, like in the off season, specifically in that spring period, reps really don’t matter who you’re doing them with, because the receiver fluctuation of this guy’s only going to take four reps. This guy’s gonna take six reps. This offensive lineman may not practice today. So, like a lot of times, coaches are more trying to put you as the quarterback in situations with certain people, rather than certain number one, number two, number three, on the on the board type of thing.”
One of Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders should start in 2025
It remains to be seen how the quarterback battle plays out over the course of NFL training camp. If Gabriel or Sanders impresses, it might be hard to not start them considering the Draft investment.
Orlovsky dove deeper into the division of reps between Gabriel, Sanders and others. How they respond situationally could be a big indicator.
“So sometimes it’s like, hey, you know, I want to see how he performs with the backup offensive line against the starting defensive line,” Orlovsky said. “Or I want to see how he throws the ball to David Njokou, who I want to see how him and Jerry Jeudy communicate, stuff like that. So that’s a huge part of it, too. Rather than what guy runs out there first … And so there’s a lot of that that goes on with the quarterback, kind of moving chairs or musical chairs and the reps distribution.
“But if I was Cleveland and because of the trade, and knowing what ‘26 looks like for them, at least as we sit here today with the draft, there’s not a ton of benefit for me starting Joe Flacco, because it doesn’t answer anything with the potential of next year’s class, and then figuring out, long term at least, what’s the situation. So I would start one of those two rookies.”
