Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders received the bulk of the playing time at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns as they battled for the starting job across the team's first two preseason games.
In preseason Week 3, it was Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green's team to run the show after Todd Monken named Watson Cleveland's starter.
Gabriel, a third-round pick from the 2025 NFL Draft, was granted the chance to start. It was a critical opportunity for the 25-year-old, who had struggled in mop-up duty across his first two preseason contests.
Gabriel capitalized on the chance afforded to him. He led the Browns offense to 27 points while demonstrating great rhythm and accuracy across one half of action. Entering Thursday's action, Cleveland had only scored
17 total points across its previous two preseason games.
Here's more to know about Gabriel's outing against the Patriots, including a grade for his performance.
Dillon Gabriel grade for preseason start in Browns vs. Patriots
Gabriel put together a strong performance against the Patriots, one that will likely help him lock down the Browns' third-string quarterback job ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
Gabriel looked much more comfortable in the pocket than he did across his first two preseason outings. He was in rhythm throughout the evening, routinely finding open receivers and hitting them with accurate passes at all levels of the field.
Gabriel was particularly impressive when throwing to the intermediate portion of the field. On one occasion, the lefty was able to hang in the pocket amid pressure and hit Ben Patterson breaking open over the middle of the field.
Later, Gabriel once again found Patterson open and feathered a pass to the 6-5 receiver on the sideline to create a 52-yard gain. While Patterson generated a lot of the big gain after the catch, Gabriel did well to move away from pressure and deliver a quality throw on the run.
One can nitpick some of Gabriel's showing. Notably, his arm strength remains one of his limitations, as his passes didn't seem to have a great deal of zip on them.
Additionally, while Gabriel tossed three touchdowns, none were of a high degree of difficulty. The first two were shorter-area checkdowns to Luke Floriea that the second-year receiver was able to take into the end-zone with quality runs after the catch.
The third touchdown saw Gabriel find Ahmani Marshall open on a checkdown, but the score was created by the second-year running back's ability to break a tackle attempt by Patriots linebacker Riley Wilson.
Even so, Gabriel still was able to complete each touchdown pass in rhythm. He also avoided major negative plays throughout the outing, as he did not have a turnover and was not sacked across his extensive action. That was a positive growth for the 25-year-old after he struggled to generate positive plays across his first two preseason games.
So, while Gabriel was never able to get involved in the Browns' starting quarterback battle, his performance against the Patriots should help him in his quest to make Cleveland's 53-man roster.
And even if the Browns decide not to keep him, the 25-year-old showed enough that he should be able to earn another NFL job. Perhaps that could come with a team like the Atlanta Falcons, who could use extra quarterback depth and employ Gabriel's former coach, Kevin Stefanski.
Dillon Gabriel grade vs. Patriots: A-
Dillon Gabriel stats vs. Patriots
- Completions/Attempts (%): 12/15 (80%)
- Passing yards: 186
- Passing touchdowns: 3
- Interceptions: 0
- Passer rating: 157.9
- Rushing yards: 3 (4 carries)
- Sacks: 0
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dillon Gabriel put together the Browns' best preseason QB performance
