There have already been a wide range of opinions regarding whether Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel has looked better during the early portion of the offseason with the Cleveland Browns, but one reporter sounds just about ready to write off the latter.
Zac Jackson of The Athletic offered a very harsh assessment of Gabriel during an appearance this week on Infinity Sports Network. The longtime Browns reporter said he has not seen anything that shows him Gabriel is capable of being an NFL quarterback.
“Dillon Gabriel does not look like an NFL quarterback to me. Like, 0 percent, so I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” Jackson said. “They fell in love with the intangibles. They have an analytic charting project that they have followed in the past, and they loved him. … He just flew under the radar. I don’t think any other team was taking him in the top 100 or probably the top 150.”
Jackson then mentioned how the Browns have drafted several quarterbacks in recent years who last fewer than two seasons with the team. He said he would be “more than beyond shocked” if Gabriel does not have the same outcome in Cleveland.
.@AkronJackson says Shedeur Sanders has been impressive early on, but makes it clear that Dillon Gabriel doesn't look like a NFL QB. @InfSportsNet pic.twitter.com/Xq0SjSRXQF
— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) May 30, 2025
Jackson also said Shedeur Sanders has been “impressive” thus far. However, he is not convinced that either rookie will ever see the field with the Browns and said Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett are the only two quarterbacks competing for the starting job.
Again, the assessments of both Gabriel and Sanders have been all over the place. Another longtime member of the Cleveland media recently said Gabriel has been better than Sanders throughout voluntary workouts. More recently, a Browns analyst used an extremely flattering word to describe Sanders.
Obviously, it is far, far too early for the Browns to know exactly what they have in either one of their rookie quarterbacks. They had better hope at least one pans out, otherwise they will look even worse for using two picks in the first five rounds on the position.
