The Cleveland Browns had four healthy QBs competing for the top spot for most of the offseason, only to see all four sidelined at different times and for different reasons during the preseason. At least they’ve gotten a full half from each of their rookies, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.
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With Gabriel and Kenny Pickett both injured, Sanders started Week 1 of the preseason for Cleveland and looked impressive. He led three touchdown drives, threw two tough touchdown passes, and didn’t turn the ball over. In Week 2, the roles flipped as Sanders sat out with an oblique injury and Gabriel played the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Unfortunately, Gabriel’s otherwise solid preseason debut was overshadowed by his two turnovers in the game: a pick-six and a botched hand-off. However, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky took a close look at the tape and determined that Gabriel actually played better than Sanders overall, despite those costly mistakes.
“I thought tape-wise it was better than Shedeur’s. Tape-wise, it looked very similar to Tua Tagovailoa,” Orlovsky said on Get Up.
“The efficiency and how he moves, the ball placement that he has. The understanding of how quickly he was operating was a big deal to me. Going underneath center and running some of their play-action game, because it’s not necessarily something he’s done in his past. For me, that was the big thing,” the analyst added.
Interestingly, Orlovsky mentioned a comparison between Gabriel and Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa that we’ve seen Skip Bayless making constantly. Hopefully, Orlovsky came to that conclusion on his own and wasn’t simply parroting the other pundit’s opinion.
Sanders was 14-for-23 for 138 yards, two passing TDs, and two sacks. That’s a 61 completion percentage and about 6.0 yards per pass attempt. Gabriel, meanwhile, was a little bit tighter and more efficient, turnovers notwithstanding.
He was 13-for-18 for 143 yards with two sacks, which is a 72 percent completion percentage and 7.9 yards per attempt. Orlovsky’s opinion is not in the majority, but it’s well-backed by the tape and numbers.
“The ball placement was elite versus some tight coverage. His connection with Jamari Thrash—who by the way should be a starter for the Cleveland Browns—but throwing it away from defenders, was elite. Shedeur’s tape last week was really, really, really good. Really impressive. I thought Dillon Gabriel’s was better because it played faster and more efficient.”
All the theories, takes, and opinions on the Browns’ QB race will soon come to an end, however. Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced that he will name his official QB1 heading into the regular season before the team’s final preseason game against the Rams on Saturday.
Barring a shocker, veteran Joe Flacco, who had success in Stefanski’s offense in 2023, will start out of the gate. Pickett is still dealing with a hamstring issue and could be moved. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Sanders will likely battle for the backup QB role. We reckon whoever wins that job will be QB1 by the end of October at the latest.
