Peter King Correctly Writes Cleveland Browns Blew It With Taylor Gabriel
Former Cleveland Browns WR Taylor Gabriel had a stellar Sunday, and that’s given Peter King, Jon Lynch and the media more reasons to make fun of the Cleveland Browns.
Congratulations, Taylor Gabriel. The former Brown and all-around good guy had one heck of a week, touching ball five times while racking up 102 total yards and two receiving touchdowns.
Gabriel’s a great story. He was undrafted out of Abilene Christian in 2014, and GM Ray Farmer signed him as a free agent before training camp. Keep in mind Browns fans, that was the same year Farmer took Johnny Manziel and Justin Gilbert in the first round.
The 5-foot-8 speedster had a darn good rookie year, catching 36 balls for 621 yards, a 17.3 yards per catch average.
Gabriel hung around in 2015, but his numbers took a big dip. He wasn’t targeted nearly as much and really wasn’t part of the gameplan. His second season netted just 48 targets and 28 receptions for 241 yards.
Now he’s the star of Week 11 as Fox Sports analyst Jon Llynch is ready to put him into the Hall of Fame. I write that tongue-in-cheek, but come on, don’t Browns fans have it hard enough?
“I’m sorry if you live in Cleveland, but your team, which has not won this year, let that guy go. He’s a difference-maker. He has speed. He has quickness … He is running circles around the Arizona Cardinals defense,” via Si.com.
MMQB scribe Peter King also weighed in, offering a shot at the lowly Browns.
“In the past three games, Gabriel, picked up off the waiver wire when Cleveland cut him before the season, has 13 touches for 254 yards and four touchdowns. It is positively amazing that the Browns could not find a spot on their roster for a talent like Gabriel.”
And then there was this from the Atlanta Falcons Twitter account.
Ok, am I bitter? Slightly. The Browns simply can’t afford to give talent away.
King is correct in cracking the Browns for not finding him a roster spot, especially with Andrew Hawkins still on the roster.
Hawkins, 30, and Gabriel, 25, are essentially the same player, with the major exception being that Hawkins is five years older. They’re both shifty-speedy wideouts that would be a nightmare to tackle in space.
Hawk’s averaging 10.3 yards per catch–not even close to Gabriel’s average, but he has accounted for three scores, one fewer than Gabriel.
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Hawkins signed a four-year deal with the Browns before the start of the 2014 season. He’s making $1 million this season. Gabriel is making $600,000.
OK, now that we’ve built Gabriel up, and are furious he’s not wearing an orange helmet, you’ve got to remember the state of the Browns receiving corps before the 2014 draft.
When seemingly every team except the Browns were picking wideouts from talent-rich drafts to get bigger, faster and stronger, Farmer infamously collected his group of “smurfs” and placed no importance on signing big, fast, receivers.
Gabriel may also be a beneficiary of good quarterback play. Back in 2014, he thrived when Brian Hoyer was playing well. After the Browns booted Hoyer for Manziel that season, Gabriel wasn’t as noticeable.
In Atlanta, he’s playing with Matt Ryan, a three-time Pro Bowler. He shares the field with Julio Jones–a guy that kind of demands a lot of attention. Mohammed Sanu–one of the offseason’s most coveted free-agent receivers, also catches passes in Atlanta.
The point is Gabriel is probably a player who gets noticed more on a playoff-bound team.
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With that in mind, it’d be nice to see him on the same field with Terrelle Pryor and Corey Coleman. We know what Hawkins is, and we all love his story, but this is a team that needs talent, and Gabriel is proving again that the “New Browns Order” needs to re-think how they evaluable players.