Kevin Stefanski Wants Dillon Gabriel as QB1 With Browns Front Office’s Shedeur Sanders Hesitation – Insider

14 QBs got signed in this draft. But not all at once, and definitely not all in the first round. As many as nine QBs waited for their names to be called on Day 3. But with the drafts finally behind us, the Cleveland Browns now have two quarterbacks to add to their depth of amazing talent. Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders add to the lineup of Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, and Kenny Pickett. Drafting two QBs in the drafts, the Browns may have come one step closer to their Super Bowl dream.

With Deshaun Watson still on the road to recovery from his torn Achilles, Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco were the starter picks for the Browns. But now, with the addition of Dillon Gabriel, there are speculations if the Oregon QB – now a Browns rookie – will get to be the starter. Maybe not immediately, but sometime down the line for sure. NFL Analyst Greg Cosell certainly thinks Dillon has what it takes. 

As per a post on X, Greg Cosell weighed in on Dillon Gabriel’s QB potential on the Ross Tucker Podcast, “Gabriel is a guy that has a natural feel for the position. – I think he’s got subtle and nuanced pocket movement, which you don’t see from a lot of college quarterbacks. I think he has a pretty refined feel for when to come off intermediate route concepts and chuck the ball down.”

He further added, “He rarely gets stuck in the pocket. – He’s got a little bit better arm than people are giving him credit for. – I think in an ideal world, this is what Kevin Stefanski wants his offense to look like – he needs a passing game built on timing and rhythm concepts, maybe an emphasis on RPO and quick game.” And with his college pedigree, Dillon might just be the guy HC Kevin Stefanski was looking for. 

“I think that (Dillon) Gabriel is a guy that has a natural feel for the position.”@GregCosell breaks down why the Browns might’ve preferred Gabriel to Shedeur Sanders, Quinn Ewers, etc. pic.twitter.com/8aEfilnHKx

— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) April 28, 2025

Dillon has a 6-year college career with 63 starts during his time at UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon. So far, he has a massive 155 TDs with 19,931 total yards. He even got named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and led the Oregon ducks to a conference championship. He’s a star in the making and knows what he’s got. On Friday night, he said, “I’m built for this. I’m ready for this. It’s the new challenge. And although there’s unknown and this may be a first time for me in terms of being in the NFL, I think just my ability to adapt in college and be around a team and different teams in that way, it allows you to adapt quickly and know naturally when you walk into a building, you got to be prepared.” He’s pumped all right.

And the team has spent considerable time with him during the pre draft process. GM Andrew Berry had this to say about Dillon, “Brought [Gabriel] in right after the combine, did the private visit and workouts out in Eugene – Decorated college career, very accurate, very poised, throws with mobility. We just thought he had a really well-rounded game;” The Browns might just have landed someone who can push the team forward for a long foreseeable future. But speaking of Berry, we must also address the elephant in the war room – the once rising, then falling, and now floating star – Shedeur Sanders.

Shedeur Sanders’ signing raising eyebrows

When Sheduer Sanders’ name began the rounds on the internet, it seemed he had all the makings of a star. Being Deion Sanders’ son certainly comes with a lot of expectations. But Shedeur was always ready to prove and pave his own way forward. His draft journey may not have been legendary, but after finally being drafted on Day 3, he is now ready to prove to the world that he belongs on the gridiron. The Browns definitely threw him a lifeline, and he took the opportunity like a pro. But was that lifeline really what the Browns wanted to do?

As Shedeur’s crew danced when he got picked, back in the Browns war room, owner Jimmy Dee Haslam, HC Stefanski and GM Berry all looked vacant as they clapped. The rest of the room wasn’t that different, either. Ollie Connolly posted the viral video of the war room on X. The caption went, “Kind of sort of has the look like the owner made the call”. It wasn’t even a speculation, the Browns, for a fact, did not look like they’d just landed a franchise QB, especially since they’d already gone for Dillon Gabriel in round 3. And Haslam’s negligence towards the Browns’ needs has always been a cause for concern, and he often weighs in strongly in matters of team decisions. If he really did push for Shedeur, the expressions of Stefanski and Berry make a lot of sense.

As per NFL insider Benjamin Alllbright, “There was definitely a split in the room—some were higher on other options, but when ownership speaks, decisions tend to follow.” So what does this mean for the Browns going forward? Will Stefanski want to polish Shedeur since he so clearly wants Dillon to be their guy? Shedeur will definitely jump at the chance to prove his worth, and the same can also be said for Dillon. How the Browns – Dillon – Shedeur saga unfolds, we’ll just have to wait and see.

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