The Cleveland Browns were an important factor in this year's NFL Draft. ... but to some critics, not necessarily in positive ways.
After being considered the top landing spot for Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the Browns - along with everyone else - passed on him in the first four rounds.
In Round 3, Cleveland selected Oregon's Dillon Gabriel before finally taking Sanders in the fifth.
The selection of Gabriel was dubbed Cleveland's most controversial offseason move by Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport, ranking it in his top six worst offseason moves across the league.
"The Sanders pick made sense—he was considered a first-round talent by many draftniks and cost the Browns essentially nothing," Davenport wrote. "But the Sanders pick made taking Gabriel on Day 2 look that much worse. ... Gabriel’s ceiling is all but certainly a competent backup. And a Browns team with needs galore on both sides of the ball can’t afford to waste top 100 picks like this."
Not only did the Browns select two quarterbacks, they traded back from No. 2 where they were expected to select Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.
Hunter went No. 2 still, just to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The argument from Davenport is that the Browns have way too many holes in the roster to select two questionable quarterbacks in the draft, emphasizing the low ceiling of Gabriel as a backup.
Cleveland could've used that third-round pick on one of a number of defensive or offensive linemen to bolster the point of attack.
Now, we'll play the waiting game to see if either pick plays out for the positive.