Dillon Gabriel has a lot of good things going for him as an NFL rookie quarterback. But one thing he doesn’t have is adequate height. At just 5-foot-11-inches, he’s one of the rare quarterbacks who isn’t 6 feet tall. And a recent image of him standing next to Shedeur Sanders has fans thinking that the listed height is a bit generous.
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A photo of Gabriel and Sanders throwing passes side by side from the Browns OTAs went viral due to their stark height difference. For comparison, Shedeur was listed at 6 feet and 1.5 inches. But in the photo, Sanders seemingly towers over Gabriel.
That’s why one fan on Twitter believes that Gabriel’s listed Combine height may not be real because, in their eyes, he doesn’t look like his billed height of 5’11”.
“This size difference between Shedeur and Dillon is wild. For context Shedeur measured in at the NFL Combine at 6’1½” and Dillon Gabriel magically measured in at 5’11”. I’m convinced Dillon had a prosthetic heel made for under his socks that day,” the user captioned.
This size difference between Shedeur and Dillon is wild. For context Shedeur measured in at the NFL Combine at 6’1½” and Dillon Gabriel magically measured in at 5’11”. I’m convinced Dillon had a prosthetic heel made for under his socks that day. #NFL pic.twitter.com/8Kms80OsFO
— Ossacin’s Ducktail (@OssacinDucktail) June 6, 2025
Soon, others rushed to the comments section to give their reactions. Most of them came to the defense of Shedeur.
“Remember when they said Shedeur didn’t have the build of an nfl qb? Yeah the media slander was disgusting,” one wrote.
“Yeah either they measured him wrong or they measured Shedeur wrong this looks 4 inches difference,” another agreed.
Remember when they said Shedeur didn’t have the build of an nfl qb? Yeah the media slander was disgusting
— CJ (@artnkicks) June 6, 2025
One fan even came to the defense of Gabriel, denouncing the pointless criticism.
“Why he got to belittle Dillon, he a cool dude, we don’t have to throw dirt on him to make shedeur look better, the work will speak for itself,” a user commented.
Belittle is a bit of a strong word to describe what the poster said about Gabriel. After all, height has been a concern about him ever since he was scouted. So, it was a valid criticism.
Gabriel on his height
During the NFL Scouting Combine, Gabriel was asked about his height and whether he thought it was an issue. While he never directly answered the question, he easily deflected it by showcasing his career resume.
“I’ve had the most experience ever, as you can imagine, starting in high school as a freshman all the way into my senior year on varsity, and then I’ve done the same thing in college. I’m a leader. I’m a winner. I’ve won at all three spots, and I’ve done it in big games,” Gabriel told reporters at the NFL Combine.
It’s a hard case to argue against. Gabriel holds the NCAA record for total career touchdowns (179) and logged the second-most passing yards in NCAA history (18,722). He has six years of college experience and has won a lot during that time. Gabriel even won a high school state championship in 2016 in Hawaii.
We’ve seen other shorter quarterbacks experience a ton of success in the NFL. Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson, and Drew Brees all come to mind. It’ll be interesting to see if Gabriel can carve out a similar path to stardom.
