The NFL world has been buzzing over the past week as rookies step down in their new homes and get the ball rolling. Minicamps are starting almost everywhere across the league. One team in particular, though, has been stealing a lot of the attention.
That team is the Cleveland Browns, and they’re drawing eyeballs largely because of the presence of both former Oregon Duck Dillon Gabriel and former Colorado Buffalo Shedeur Sanders in the quarterback room. The Browns took Gabriel with the No. 94 overall pick in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft, and they later selected Sanders at No. 144 in the fifth round.
Cleveland enters the new season with a crowded quarterback room that includes rookies as well as veterans Joe Flacco, Deshaun Watson, and Kenny Pickett. While Watson remains sidelined with an Achilles injury, the other four will compete for the starting spot.
This past week, Gabriel talked about that competition, particularly what it means to play alongside Sanders and battle him for the top job.
“I love it because of who it is,” Gabriel said on Friday. “I think just for us both, you can learn from one another, but also it’s not just us two in the room. At least for right now, it is. But going into the year, Kenny [Pickett], Joe [Flacco], and even Deshaun [Watson], just a bunch of guys who played a bunch of ball that we can all learn from one another.”
While Gabriel and Sanders battle back and forth at minicamp, nothing will be decided until the fall when all the players get together. Even then, such a deep QB room offers the potential that no player has the starting job secured for long should they struggle, and there could be constant conversations about who the backup is, no matter how the starter is playing.
Ultimately, Gabriel is in a good spot, though, and seems happy competing with Sanders and the rest of the passers in Cleveland. We will see how he fares in that competition over the next several months.
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