As Browns rookie QBs Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders report to training camp, where does QB battle stand?

Yahoo

6 days ago

BEREA, Ohio — When the Cleveland Browns began their second-to-last practice of minicamp in June, Joe Flacco prepared for another day on the sidelines.
The 40-year-old veteran quarterback didn't love the inactivity.
But entering his 18th season, he understood the relative benefit of the offseason for him compared to the three quarterbacks his junior.
Even so, spectators watching Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders were tempted to ask: What did this rep allocation say about the Browns' depth chart?
Perhaps not what you think, general manager Andrew Berry cautioned.
'Oftentimes, the thought in the NFL is like, 'OK, well, your starter gets 70% of the reps, your backup gets 25% of the reps and your third guy gets 5% of the reps, and the job of the backups is to be ready to play with no reps,' Berry told Yahoo Sports during a sitdown interview June 11. 'It doesn't have to be that way – especially in the spring, when we have some flexibility because we're not necessarily preparing for games.'
So the Browns did not allocate reps in correlation with their expected depth chart. They instead tilted offseason practices toward getting their two rookie quarterbacks up to speed their first time awash in professional football, and toward getting their offseason acquisition in Pickett up to speed on a playbook with which he was not yet familiar.
They ran 'two-spot' practices with simultaneous fields allowing the veterans to work more complex play calls ripe with shifts and motions, while the rookies were tasked with playing fast and achieving success even if on more simple assignments.
The result: When the Browns concluded minicamp and broke for roughly six weeks until training camp, their quarterback competition appeared bifurcated. The veterans fell into one bucket of opportunity for Cleveland's eventual decision on a Week 1 starter, while the rookies landed in another. Neither bucket's duo was homogenous.
As Gabriel and Sanders report Friday with the Browns rookies, followed by Flacco and Pickett on Tuesday with the veterans, what can NFL fans expect from the quarterback competition and its participants?
Let's break down where each contestant stands – and what the Browns will look for as their decision day nears.
Meet the quarterbacks
Joe Flacco, Resident Old Guy
To avoid the endless repetition on Flacco's age, can we all just agree he's a quadragenarian? The 2008 first-round pick won his Super Bowl MVP award following the 2012 season. For those counting at home, it is 2025. But Flacco isn't just old, as Sanders likes to remind him – he's also overflowing with knowledge and experience, of the Browns' offense to be specific from his 2023 playoff run, and of the NFL defenses the Browns will need a QB to diagnose. Flacco returns to Cleveland with a 105-86 career regular-season record, completing 61.7% of his passes for 45,697 yards, 257 touchdowns and 162 interceptions as a pro. He's competed in seven different playoff runs.
But in his 2024 stint with the Indianapolis Colts, Flacco was not at his peak. He completed 65.3% of passes and threw 12 touchdowns to seven interceptions as he averaged 220.1 yards per game last season. The Colts won just two of six games he started.
Even so, it's fair to consider Flacco the early frontrunner for Week 1 starter. Browns brass emphasized decision-making and processing as key tenets of how they'll decide who starts the season, and Flacco's six games (playoffs included) with Stefanski and Cleveland in 2023 give him a head start. He's so ahead that he was 'punished' with minimal reps in offseason activities. If the Browns believe he's their best option to start the season, they'll want to re-allocate reps in the coming weeks. If they believe someone else can keep up – keep an eye on the trade market.
Kenny Pickett, Experienced But Not With This System Guy
As the 20th overall selection of the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickett joined a Pittsburgh Steelers offense that wasn't necessarily positioned to thrive. Pickett didn't thrive, completing 62.6% of passes for 4,474 yards, 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in a pair of 7-5 seasons. He then joined the Philadelphia Eagles last season, backing up Jalen Hurts on Philadelphia's Super Bowl championship roster.
Pickett has some NFL exposure, but he admitted during mandatory minicamp his minimal experience with the play-action and under-center concepts that head coach Kevin Stefanski likes to call. Pickett's comfort with those concepts grew during offseason installations, and the knowledge he does have at the pro level he not only used but also shared. Sanders looked to Pickett for guidance on marrying footwork correctly with reads, and discerning when a play calls for a three-step drop compared to a five or seven.
If Pickett can convince the Browns he's as ready to thrive in Week 1 as Flacco (or close), he could win that job as the Browns can gain more future upside by investing snaps into a 27-year-old than a 40-year-old. Pickett could also be a candidate for trade bait if Flacco seems healthy and Gabriel ready for backup duties.
Dillon Gabriel, The Computer Mind
Browns brass raves about Gabriel's learning speed and processing strength, Berry describing Gabriel as 'basically like a veteran' after his six college seasons. 'You don't ever really need to correct him twice,' offensive coordinator Tommy Rees told Yahoo Sports. 'He won't make the same mistake.'
Gabriel played 64 college games across six seasons and three schools, throwing for 18,722 yards, 155 touchdowns and 32 interceptions across UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon. He will have an adjustment period in the NFL. But the Browns allowed him to begin working with more veteran concepts during minicamp because of the rate at which he was progressing.
'In this profession, I think there's a bunch of progression and regression,' Gabriel said during minicamp. 'Just your ability to manage that as fast as possible, I think that allows you to create improvement at a faster pace.'
Consider Gabriel a darkhorse option for Week 1 starter and realistic option to take further reins later in the season.
Shedeur Sander, The High-Upside Draft Surprise
The Browns stunned the NFL world selecting Sanders in the fifth round after taking Gabriel in the third. But they didn't necessarily veer from their principles in the selection.
'We will take backslide even when we have [someone at that position] if we think there's a player that's the appropriate value or undervalued relative,' Berry said. 'We didn't anticipate Shedeur being around in the fifth round. I imagine most of the league didn't either.'
Sanders arrived in Cleveland after completing 70.1% of passes for 14,347 yards, 134 touchdowns and 27 interceptions in four total seasons across Jackson State and Colorado. His college experience is deep also, but there is belief among many in the NFL that its volume and diversity trails what Gabriel learned in six years. Browns coaches did not ask Sanders to integrate the same volume of playbook during minicamp as his counterparts, reflected when he did not take first-team snaps as the other three did. Sanders' arm strength and playmaking impressed on the concepts he did run.
'I view things as, I got time,' Sanders said at minicamp. 'I got time to be able to grow and mature and be able to understand the ins and outs of the defenses and be able to get good insight from the vets in the room.
'My goal is to be the best teammate and to be as polished as I can be in every aspect.'
Now what?
Early training camp practices often focus on reiterating offensive installations after the long break. But meeting rooms, practices and preseason games will give the Browns more data points off which to determine their depth chart and starter roles. A seemingly four-way quarterback competition to outsiders feels more like a pair of two-way competitions on the ground in Berea. But the Browns won't count out surprises in the next six weeks.
Rees will continue to emphasize exposure to concepts and improvement, reminding quarterbacks that they can't always script the perfect play so problem-solving and decision-making will make or break the offense's success.
Stefanski will continue assessing each of his quarterbacks' strengths in order to tailor his offense accordingly – or more precisely, in his words, decide which concepts from his broad-enough-to-fit-each-guy playbook he should most emphasize to accentuate the quarterback in the game.
And Berry? As the front office finalizes roster decisions in late August, he'll continue viewing competition and crowded rooms as a benefit rather than a distraction.
'I think if you're in any position room and you're worried about a guy that's taken or signed that's out of your control, then you probably don't have the mental wiring to be as competitive as you need to be for that spot,' Berry said. 'The reality of it is, everybody's got to compete.
'Everybody's got to earn their keep, so to speak.'