The Cleveland Browns face off against the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, today at 1 pm. The team wasn't sure they would be able to see their third round pick, quarterback Dillon Gabriel out of Oregon, until he went through pregame warmups. They deemed him healthy enough, so Gabriel will now get his chance to make an impression after Shedeur Sanders had a solid debut last week versus the Carolina Panthers. I expect he'll see about the same amount of game action, playing into the third quarter like Sanders as long as he doesn't experience any injury flare-ups.
Gabriel will no doubt want to follow up Sanders' performance with a multi-touchdown performance of his own. He'll work with mostly the second and third-string offense. Fans will keep an eye out for his connection with wide receivers Kaden Davis and Gage Larvadain, who are making a big name for themselves with strong performances in camp and both scoring touchdowns last Friday. They'll also be watching for how he handles the Eagles defensive line. Even with starters likely out for Philadelphia, the Eagles boast a ton of talented depth and the Browns backup line last week struggled with pressure.
Something else to be watching for is how he works around batted passes. Gabriel is a shorter quarterback at 5'11", and the Eagles will no doubt want to use that to their advantage. He will have to work to find throwing lanes and use different arm angles to get the ball where he wants it to go. He showed that he can do it in college, often being lauded for his calmness in the pocket in scouting reports leading up to the draft, but the NFL is a different beast.
The pressure will be on for Gabriel, as his performance will be compared to Sanders, good or bad. There have already been calls for Sanders to jump Gabriel and others on the depth chart, so it's up to Gabriel to deliver to keep further calls at bay. He's got experience, having played in 64 college games, throwing for 155 touchdowns on 32 interceptions. I'll also be watching how he uses his rushing ability-he's not the most rush-heavy quarterback but he showcased it enough for 33 rushing touchdowns in his time at UCF, Oklahoma, and Oregon.
No matter how Gabriel does today, I still anticipate that Joe Flacco will be the day-one starter. Kenny Pickett probably has the best chance to unseat him right away, but he's still nursing his hamstring injury. It's up to both rookies to push the veterans for their place on the depth chart and to push each other in what has been one of the more unique quarterback competitions in recent memory.