The Jameis Winston experience with the Cleveland Browns only lasted one season but fans won't be able to escape whatever lingering feelings there are from the roller coaster ride that it was. While Winston has since moved on to join the New York Giants, it appears as though Browns fans aren't done seeing the No. 5 under center just yet.
Cleveland officially announced the jersey numbers of its 2025 draft class on Tuesday and third-round pick Dillon Gabriel has been issued the same No. 5 jersey that Winston wore this past season. Winston's tenure with the Browns provided fans with a number of spectacular highlights to go along with all the turnovers that would leave members of the Dawg Pound scratching their heads.
There are no doubts that Gabriel will go through his own growing pains while making the transition from the college game to the NFL. It is something that each and every quarterback that enters the league goes through. The fact that Gabriel is a more than willing runner, as shown in the clip below, should help him in this transition though.
Dillon Gabriel TAKES IT HIMSELF for six! 😤
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 13, 2024
📺 NBC & Peacock | @OregonFootball pic.twitter.com/WsPZK1kPqT
With veteran quarterbacks Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco on the roster, Gabriel likely won't be leaned on heavily as a rookie and there are no guarantees he beats out fellow first-year signal caller Shedeur Sanders in terms of his order on the depth chart.
Gabriel doesn't have the type of arm power that Winston possesses, and to be fair few players do, but he has shown through his multiple stops during his collegiate career that he is a smart player who values taking care of the football. For Cleveland fans, that in and of itself should be a welcome sight given all of the quarterbacks this franchise has gone through over the course of the last few decades.
Here is hoping that the only flashbacks Browns fans have of Winston while Gabriel is on the field in his No. 5 uniform are the positive ones and not the head scratchers.