The Cleveland Browns approached the 2025 NFL Draft with a mission: to find a new star quarterback. That’s why they selected Dillon Gabriel in the third round and, 50 picks later in the fifth round, chose Shedeur Sanders.
Both young QBs had standout college seasons last year. Gabriel led the Oregon Ducks to a 13-1 record, while Sanders guided the Colorado Buffaloes to a 9-4 finish and earned the Johnny Unitas Award as the top quarterback in college football.
But since joining the Browns, they haven’t had an easy start to their NFL journey. They’re competing not only with each other but also with veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett for the starting role in Kevin Stefanski’s offense. That’s no easy task for any quarterback in the league-let alone a rookie.
Shedeur Sanders’ learning curve in Browns practice
NFL insider Albert Breer spoke about the difference between Gabriel and Sanders during their first weeks as pros with the Browns. According to Breer, the Oregon program seems to have prepared Gabriel better than Deion Sanders’ system at Colorado did for Shedeur.
“He (Shedeur) had a bigger learning curve than Dillon Gabriel. There were teams that were stunned by how little Shedeur knew relative to what they expected. He was pretty far behind,” Breer said on 92.3 The Fan.
“I think Shedeur-and this isn’t any fault of his own-had a lot more ground to cover than Dillon Gabriel. Because of that, it’s harder to put him out there with the first team,” Breer concluded.
Sanders has mostly trained with the Browns’ backups and appears to be the fourth-string quarterback in Cleveland, while Gabriel has gotten more reps with the first team – but it’s still unclear if he’ll be the starter.
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