Gabriel Gets Troubling News on Browns QB1 Job, as Sanders Surges

The Cleveland Browns have not made any decisions yet on who will start at quarterback come Week 1 of the regular season, but official preseason depth chart decisions are getting close.

Third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel and fourth-year QB Kenny Pickett got the most reps throughout mandatory minicamp last week, and Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com offered a recent report that seemingly puts Gabriel in the driver’s seat as training camp approaches.

“I think it’s very significant right now that they’re throwing first-teamers at Dillon,” Cabot said on June 12. “Dillon is playing with the first-team offense against the first-team defense. I mean, those are choice quality reps that he’s getting.”

However, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported two days later on an episode of “SportsCenter” that the Browns have set nothing in stone and that Shedeur Sanders has turned heads since arriving in Cleveland.

“Sanders … showed the ability to put the ball in some tight windows. He threw with aggressiveness, took some chances, so they like where he sits,” Fowler said. “Now [Browns head coach Kevin] Stefanski has to formulate a plan in training camp that is probably a little more crystallized, maybe has a little more depth chart to it. They are not there yet, but Sanders has made an impression — there’s no doubt.”

Shedeur Sanders Has Physical Advantage, While Dillon Gabriel Holds Upper Hand as Game Processor

Further reports from earlier in the week also indicate that Sanders is more physically prepared to immediately step into an NFL game than is Gabriel, given that Sanders is a fifth-round pick who arguably has first-round physical talent.

“Physically, Sanders can start in the NFL right now,” Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported on June 9, citing sources from within the Browns organization.

However, he added that Gabriel’s processing abilities are ahead of Sanders’, at least at the moment.

“Despite all the talk about Colorado Buffaloes offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur utilizing a pro-style scheme that supposedly made Sanders more ‘pro-ready” than some other quarterbacks, I don’t think that has proven to be the case,” Robinson continued. “Not only is Sanders going to be mentally swimming with the complexity of an NFL offense, there is a lot of work to do with the basic terminology and verbiage utilized by Stefanski’s scheme.”

Battle Between Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders Likely to Shape Browns’ QB Room for Years to Come

The winner in the rookie QB battle between Gabriel and Sanders may not be the winner of the QB1 battle going on among the entire roster, as former Browns playoff starter Joe Flacco is also in the mix — albeit at the age of 40.

But the player who shows more in the preseason and the regular season is far more likely to play out his rookie contract in Cleveland, while the other could be on another team come Week 1 of the 2026 campaign.

The Browns will likely move on from one of the four quarterbacks currently in the hunt for the starting job before the summer is out, while an injured Deshaun Watson will remain a financial albatross dangling around the franchise’s neck for at least another year or two.

Cleveland could also end up in the hunt for the No. 1 pick again next season, depending on how the quarterback position shakes out in 2025, which could introduce another element — such as Arch Manning, perhaps — into the conversation of who the Browns’ longterm solution at quarterback will ultimately be.