NFL fans were sent into a frenzy yesterday when Dillon Gabriel’s fiancée, Zo Caswell, threw shade at Shedeur Sanders. Caswell revealed in her TikTok comments that players on the Cleveland Browns actually want Gabriel starting instead of Shedeur. This only added to the rumors that Gabriel and Shedeur don’t like each other behind closed doors.
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Ever since the offseason, there’s been a growing competition between Gabriel and Shedeur for the Browns’ starting QB job. Head coach Kevin Stefanski called on the former by Week 5, and he started six straight games. But after picking up a concussion, Shedeur took his chance and ran with it.
Now, Shedeur has been named the starting QB for the past two weeks, while Gabriel is fully healthy. This led to the TikTok controversy, kick-started by Gabriel’s fiancée. But NFL analyst Emmanuel Acho pointed out that this incident wasn’t the beginning, as both Shedeur and Gabriel have been (indirectly) going back and forth for a while now.
“The Browns have put Shedeur and Gabriel in a position where those two cannot coexist. And it would be inhumane to ask those two to coexist,” Acho said on Speakeasy. “You put two lions in a cage with one piece of meat, and you said, ‘Go.’ How does that make sense?”
Leave it to the Browns to completely botch drafting a QB. Instead of selecting one and putting all their development eggs in one basket, they drafted two and created a rivalry within their own team. A little friendly competition never hurts, but this is starting to look toxic between Shedeur and Gabriel. And Acho shares the same sentiment.
“The problem is, though, they keep taking shots at each other… The Browns have put these two quarterbacks in a situation where everything now looks like a shot,” Acho said.
It’s indeed true. What’s interesting, though, is that Shedeur hasn’t been the one taking most of the shots. Instead, Gabriel has more often been caught making cryptic remarks to the media. It’s surprising, given that teams labeled Shedeur as “cocky” and “brash” coming into the league. Yet he hasn’t engaged in the subtle beef.
With this in mind, Acho believes the Browns have set themselves up to fail with their draft decisions. He thinks fans want to see Shedeur, which is making Gabriel insecure. Still, the analyst doesn’t fault Gabriel for his insecurity.
“Truth be told, Gabriel’s probably more insecure, but rightfully so,” Acho admitted. “If you’re Dillon Gabriel, all of a sudden, you’ve got a whole bunch of people who hate you for no reason. Because of what the Browns did. The Browns chose to draft Dillon Gabriel over Shedeur. Gabriel ain’t do that. The Browns chose to give Dillon Gabriel the first-team reps.”
It was an excellent point that many Shedeur fans may not have fully considered. Sure, Gabriel has said things to the media that make it seem like he doesn’t like Shedeur. But at the same time, he hasn’t received much respect since entering the building, and that has to be frustrating.
At the end of the day, Gabriel and his camp can’t keep putting themselves in this position. It’s creating drama off the field and within the team, and it could inevitably boil over at any moment. At 3-9, the Browns just need to focus on figuring out which of the two QBs has more talent and who they should move forward with next season.
