Should Dillon Gabriel's electric preseason finale force Browns to rethink QB1 decision?
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The Cleveland Browns’ quarterback roulette just got even more interesting. After the team announced Deshaun Watson as their starter for the 2026 season, it seemed like things were mostly settled for the most part. Watson will be the starter, Shedeur Sanders was the primary backup, and Dillon Gabriel was going to be the emergency quarterback. There might be some complaints from the fans about this set-up, but from Cleveland’s perspective, everything seemed to be in order in their eyes.
Well, until the final game of the preseason.
With Sanders and Watson getting extended looks this preseason, the Browns turned to Gabriel as their starter. In turn, the presumed third-string quarterback gave the best performance a Cleveland quarterback has had this preseason. Gabriel finished the game with 12-of-15 completions for 186 yards and three passing touchdowns.
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Now, the burning question is: how does this affect the Browns’ quarterback room? Will this affect their QB1 decision come Week 1?
Should Dillon Gabriel’s preseason finale force Browns to rethink QB1 decision?
Honestly, it probably wouldn’t matter… at least right now.
The Browns seem dead-set on making Watson the starter whenever he’s healthy. The front office invested $270 million in fully guaranteed money in him: they want to see him succeed in any way possible. What we’ve seen on the field firmly points towards that being near-impossible at this point, but the Browns are certainly still trying to justify that contract.
Realistically, though… this move should at least make Cleveland reconsider their options at quarterback. Gabriel is, at his core, a game manager. This preseason game did nothing to make us think that he’s anything more than that. He played through the system, made the right reads when needed, and delivered the ball on time and on target to his receivers. The Browns quarterback had a few nice throws down the middle of the field and still processed the field well. Gabriel isn’t magically some elite quarterback who will carry the team on his back.
The thing is… maybe that’s exactly what the Browns need right now. Gabriel’s issues last season was partly due to faulty offensive play-calling that did not maximize his strengths. Under Todd Monken’s system, it seems like the former Oregon quarterback is playing much better than he did under Kevin Stefanski. Meanwhile, both Sanders and Watson were unimpressive or downright bad in their preseason games. It, at the very least, deserves some consideration.
It’s also worth remembering that this was just a preseason game, and that the New England Patriots were not playing with their starters. Gabriel was also playing with the backups, yes, but the first-string Patriots defense is a much stronger beast than their backups. Naming Gabriel the starter after one preseason game after seeing what happened last season might be one of the most irresponsible moves the Browns can do.
The most likely scenario, though, is that Gabriel just made the competition for the QB2 role tighter than it initially was. Gabriel and Sanders played under similar circumstances this preseason, and the former Oregon quarterback has performed much better. The Browns’ QB2 role is highly valuable, as there’s an extremely high probability that whoever earns that role gets another chance to start this year. If Gabriel maintains his strong performance as a backup, then perhaps he can overtake Sanders as the QB2 in the season.
For now, though, it’s certainly a fun possibility to think about. Gabriel has made the already-fascinating Browns QB even more interesting. Now, how will the team respond to this resounding performance from their supposed third-string quarterback?
Related: Ryan Fitzpatrick predicts Browns’ Deshaun Watson will ‘fail,’ be benched for Shedeur Sanders
Related: Browns’ Dillon Gabriel stuns Patriots with wild numbers before halftime
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