The Cleveland Browns have had an active offseason as they look to improve from a 3-14 season a year ago. While they added a pair of new defenders in defensive tackle Mason Graham and linebacker Carson Schwesinger and a new offensive weapon in running back Quinshon Judkins, the biggest question remaining is who will play quarterback.
The Browns quarterback room is full of new faces, as Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel battle for the starting job. While all four saw reps during this week’s minicamp, not all of them were created equal, and it led to one arrival being more disappointing than the others.
Dillon Gabriel Drops the Ball for Browns During Minicamp
Many expected the Browns to take a quarterback in this year’s draft, but it happened much later than anticipated. With the decision to lean on the defense and running game to win games next season, Cleveland didn’t take a quarterback until they took Gabriel in the third round.
Gabriel has plenty of qualities that work well in Kevin Stefanski’s offense, but his best is his accuracy. He compiled a 65.2% completion rate during his six-year collegiate career but did his best work over the last two seasons, completing 69.3% of his passes at Oklahoma in 2023 and completing 72.9% of his throws with the Ducks last season.
Unfortunately, that trait didn’t show up as Gabriel ran through minicamp. ESPN Cleveland tracked the Browns' passing numbers throughout minicamp, and Gabriel ranked third among the four quarterbacks battling for the starting job, completing 48-of-83 passes (57.8%) with eight touchdowns. While the practices didn’t represent a great statistical performance, Gabriel emphasized the importance of learning the system on the first day of minicamp.
Here are the QB totals from the 5 Browns open media practices (OTAs and minicamp) this spring.
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) June 12, 2025
Who do you think should be the Browns QB1? pic.twitter.com/daBfqHvn58
“I’d say just two words, just continuous improvement,” Gabriel said via the Akron Beacon Journal’s Chris Easterling. “And in this profession, I think there’s a bunch of progression and regression, but just your ability to manage that as fast as possible, I think that allows you to create improvement at a faster pace. So I’ve just been approaching it like that and eager to learn every single day. Just approach it like a student.”
Gabriel’s comments are true. Minicamps are used for installing new things for the upcoming season and don’t come with the pressure of getting crushed by an edge rusher. But Gabriel’s performance is discouraging, considering it doesn’t provide much faith as to what will happen when an edge rusher can lay into him in September.
Sanders has received limited reps but has impressed when he’s gotten the opportunity. Pickett has been inconsistent, but he also figures to be a frontrunner along with the veteran Flacco. Stefanski is likely looking for the quarterback who makes the right play at the right time, and while Gabriel is a student of the game, it didn’t happen enough during minicamp.
That could mean Gabriel could be a missed draft pick in a class where the Browns needed to hit and give someone else the opportunity to start at quarterback when the season begins.