Uncertainty remains – and it seems it will continue for some time – about who will be the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback in Week 1 of the NFL season against the Cincinnati Bengals. There is no clear starter at the moment, not even clarity on who the backup quarterbacks will be, or who will be cut, because everything points to the fact that of the four players currently competing, one will not make the roster.
The competition includes veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett, as well as the rookies selected in the recent Draft: Dillon Gabriel, picked in the third round out of the Oregon Ducks, and the high-profile Shedeur Sanders, who was taken in the fifth round out of the Colorado Buffaloes.
There’s also a fifth quarterback – yes, the $230 million man who has simply been a complete disaster: Deshaun Watson. Since signing in 2022, he hasn’t delivered, and now he’s recovering from a double Achilles tendon injury, making it highly unlikely that he’ll be ready at the start of the season.
A difference between the rookies is beginning to emerge
In recent weeks, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told the media there’s an “open competition” for the starting quarterback job. However, it appears that Joe Flacco, due to his successful stint with the team in 2023, has a significant lead.
Remember, Flacco joined the team midway through that season and, with four wins and one loss, led the Browns to the AFC Wild Card round of the playoffs, where they eventually lost to the Houston Texans.
Still, the competition continues, and it appears that one of the four quarterbacks has already fallen behind in the early practices. According to Zac Jackson of The Athletic, that player is Dillon Gabriel, the former Oregon Ducks quarterback, who doesn’t seem to be performing at an NFL level.
“Dillon Gabriel doesn’t look like an NFL quarterback to me,” Jackson said. “Zero percent – so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
So according to Jackson, Dillon Gabriel is currently the quarterback who’s fallen behind. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be cut, but if we look at how many teams carry more than three quarterbacks into the regular season, it’s very rare. Typically, teams keep two on the active roster and one on the practice squad. Plain and simple: the Browns will not carry four quarterbacks.
Gabriel completed 65.2% of his passes in college, threw for over 3,000 yards in five seasons, and never had more than seven interceptions in a single year. Despite those “good” NCAA numbers, they don’t guarantee success in the NFL.
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