It appears to be only a matter of time before Shedeur Sanders gets his shot with the Cleveland Browns, which is bad news for Dillon Gabriel.
Gabriel replaced Joe Flacco as the Browns’ starter in Week 5. He’s gone 1-2 so far and has yet to turnover the ball — one of the goals the team had for the rookie when he was named the starter. However, Gabriel has not been able to provide a boost for the struggling offense. He’s averaging just 5.1-yards per attempt, which ranks 38th in the NFL among qualifying QBs.
Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com noted in her latest column that Gabriel continuing to be a game-manager and not a game-changer could lead to Sanders getting the starting nod earlier than expected.
“With Sanders coming up the learning curve quickly, and displaying his natural arm talent every day in practice, Gabriel must show that he can run an explosive passing attack, or the Browns will be tempted to see what their other rookie can do sooner than perhaps they want to,” Cabot said.
Browns insider Brad Stainbrook echoed that sentiment in a recent post.
“Like I’ve been reporting all season…I want to really stress this point — people in Berea continue to be very impressed with Shedeur Sanders. His development has turned heads inside the building, and there’s a real sense of excitement about where he’s headed,” Stainbrook said. “It’s not a matter of if he plays this season, it’s a matter of when.”
Browns Focused on Developing Dillon Gabriel
Sanders has faced an uphill climb since slipping to the fifth round of the draft. Even as the team’s No. 2 quarterback and primary backup, Sanders continues to face challenges — including not receiving first-team reps, a luxury Gabriel had when he backed up Joe Flacco.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski noted the different situations when asked about the rep distribution.
“With a young quarterback, with Dillon starting, you want to make sure he gets a lot of the reps. It’s different when you have a veteran with Joe,” Stefanski said.
Stefanski did note that Sanders has been getting a lot of reps in practice, just not with the starters. The former Colorado star has also been working overtime, training at a local high school and coming in early to make sure he’s up to speed on everything.
Browns Looking to Open Things Up With Dillon Gabriel
The weather was not in Gabriel or the Browns’ favor during their 31-6 Week 7 victory against the Dolphins. Luckily, the defense and the ground game came through for Cleveland. Gabriel passed for just 116 yards in the win.
Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees took accountability for the lack of explosive plays in the passing game.
“A dry day would help start that off, but we just got to trust it. We got to put him in the right spots to see the coverage, trust what he’s seeing, let it go. That starts with us as coaches — we got to put him in the right positions,” Rees said. “Throughout camp, throughout the preseason, he was not trigger shy on that stuff — I still don’t think he is. We just got to give him the right looks and make sure that we’re preparing him to trust those things, and see them and let them go.”
The Browns are a 7.5-point road underdog against the New England Patriots this week.
