CLEVELAND, Ohio — Did Shedeur Sanders really top Dillon Gabriel during the Browns recent three-day rookie minicamp as some observers suggested?
Or did Gabriel win the camp as others insisted?
Quarterback beauty is often in the eye of the beholder, and if you don’t like short QBs, you might’ve missed some of the excellent things Gabriel (5-11, 205), the Browns third-round pick out of Oregon, did in camp. The list included excellent pre-snap efficiency such as getting players into the huddle, getting them lined up right, and orchestrating the motion.
Because Gabriel has taken so many snaps and started an FBS-record 63 games for three different teams, he excelled at a directing traffic and getting the ball out quickly. Sanders, their fifth-round pick out of Colorado, also looked comfortable running the offense, but more so from a post-snap standpoint, where he dazzled with some big plays and red zone touchdowns.
Both threw with excellent velocity, with Gabriel a little more consistent, and Sanders putting better spin on the deep balls than some of the shorter routes. He uncorked a few wobblers and skipped a pass in front of a receiver down the left side, but had a few more “wow” plays than Gabriel. Both players put surprisingly few passes on the ground, considering they were throwing to mostly tryout players whom they had met the day before.
While Sanders played mostly clean ball in the two practices open to the media, Gabriel was picked off twice, once by No. 33 linebacker Carson Schwesinger in the middle of the end zone in a red zone drill, and once on a pass that bounced off his target’s chest.
The pick was an excellent play Schwesinger, and might not have mattered who was throwing it.
“You talk about his intelligence and things happen so fast down there in the red zone,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “The ability to process quickly is really important and made a great play on the ball.”
Both quarterbacks made good decisions and were accurate most of the time. Their footwork on dropbacks looked smooth, and they looked comfortable working under center as well as out of the shotgun. Sanders had to recover from one errant snap, but quickly scooped the ball and made the play.
They also both handled their first podium interviews of the spring well, which is important. The Browns are evaluating everything in this process, and being the face of the franchise is a big part of the equation.
Gabriel went first in all of the team periods — 11-on-11s, 7-on-7s and red zone — in the two days open to the media, and it likely remained that way on the third and final day.
The rookies joined the veterans this week in practice, and Sanders remained behind Gabriel coming out rookie minicamp. In the voluntary offseason program, Kenny Pickett is likely going first, Gabriel second, and then Joe Flacco and Sanders after that.
The QBs can jumble the order depending on their play, but it will likely remain mostly like that throughout organized team activities and possible the mandatory minicamp in June.
The Browns have no plans to trade any of their quarterbacks at this point, even though teams such as the Saints can use a veteran with Derek Carr retiring.
The Browns will conduct concurrent offensive drills in OTAs to maximize the reps for all four quarterback, and give them as level a playing field as possible. All four will have to have a chance to throw to Jerry Jeudy, David Njoku and Cedric Tillman to make the competition fair. By the same token, the Browns will need to decide on their starter as soon as possible to get him ready for a difficult start to the season, with two AFC North games in the first two weeks, and then a stretch of four out of five on the road — including the London game vs. the Vikings on Oct. 5 — in the first five weeks.
Given Sanders’ immense national popularity, he’ll get most of the attention and media coverage during the competition, but the Browns will block out the noise and stick to their guns. They liked Gabriel better in the draft, in part for his excellent processing skills and decision-making, and Sanders will have to come from behind — maybe all the way from No. 4 but at least No. 3 — if he hopes to win the job.
He didn’t beat out Gabriel hands down like some have reported — it was much closer to a tie — but he looked very good and more than held his own. It was a great start for both, and a nice base on which to build their case in the QB derby, which will bring out the best in all four of them.
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