The Cleveland Browns have settled their quarterback competition, but one passer who wasn't even a finalist made his case for the job on Thursday. Deshaun Watson beat out Shedeur Sanders in the race to be starting QB, leaving Dillon Gabriel as the likely third stringer. Based on the first half of Thursday's preseason game against the New England Patriots, though, Gabriel took some offense to that.
As detailed by Ari Melber of The 33rd Team, Gabriel went 12-for-15 passing for 186 yards. He also threw three touchdowns against no interceptions. His passer rating was 157.9, which is only 0.4 below the best possible rating of 158.3.
It's even more impressive that he did so against the Patriots, who made it to the Super Bowl last year on the backs of a super talented defense. The Pats are expected to remain defensively stout this season, with fantasy rankings putting them in the top 20% of the league. Gabriel's performance had some online asking why he wasn't considered for the starting job.
Neither Watson nor Sanders garnered much confidence from the public, with many opining that the Browns were choosing between two below average options. "Are we sure Dillon Gabriel isn't the Browns best QB?" asked Polymarket Football. "The Browns are in absolutely no position to cut a quarterback who led them to 27 points in a half.
No matter who it was against. Gabriel is on this team," added Aaron Goldhammer. Former NFL player Breiden Fehoko also chimed in, noting that Gabriel has his supporters in the NFL.
"This is the Dillon Gabriel staff members and teammates raved to me about. He finally got a fair opportunity to start tonight and give a proper evaluation," he said. "On time, smooth operation, accurate.
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