Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel made his first NFL regular season start in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings, completing 57.6% of his passes (19 of 33) for 190 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Despite the solid stat line, a Cleveland-area radio host believes Gabriel is destined to remain on an NFL sideline.
92.3 The Fan’s Ken Carman expressed doubts about Gabriel’s future and was dreading the prospect that he would have to talk about it during Monday morning’s “The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima.”
“He was composed, great,” Carman said. “You know how he conducted himself. He conducted himself how a career backup should conduct himself, where you just hope that you’re able to hold down the fort until the regular starter comes back.”
Carman noted that the Browns’ lack of a bona fide starter they hope to have return does not help. Joe Flacco was named the starter after training camp but was replaced by Gabriel after the Browns inconsistently moved the ball down the field and Flacco threw six interceptions.
“We don’t have a regular starter that comes back,” Carman said. “Well, we do, but nobody wants to see him, so nobody wants that to happen. We have to hope that Dillon Gabriel, a guy who is certainly limited, a guy who’s smart enough to probably be a coach in the NFL someday and to go out there and conduct an offense.”
Gabriel, who the Browns selected in the third round of this year’s draft, had been competing to become the team’s starter, with Flacco initially holding the position early and 2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders lurking and waiting for his chance to play despite being the third-string quarterback. Gabriel will likely remain the starter next Sunday against their AFC North rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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