Before the season started, the Cleveland Browns quarterback room started off with Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Tyler Huntley and an injured Deshaun Watson, along with rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. It is now down to two, and Watson: Gabriel and Sanders.
Pickett was traded before the season started, and Flacco was recently traded to the Cincinnati Bengals. It is possible that another QB, namely Bailey Zappe, will be called up to the active roster on gameday in the near future, but as of
now, the room is down to two until it isn’t.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the room was going to look like this, as the Browns were doing their best to develop their rookies while having a bridge quarterback. Let us assess what we know about the two rookie QBs at this point
QB Dillon Gabriel
As far as Gabriel goes, he is QB1 until he either loses the job due to poor play or injury. Gabriel played well in his first start overseas in London against the Minnesota Vikings. The college veteran QB managed the offense and did everything that was expected of him, despite a conservative game plan. The offense struggled (as it has all season), but you could tell the unit had a bit of juice and the energy was higher.
As for Gabriel, he has to continue stacking days and making sure he has a firm grasp on the starting job. Gabriel has his limitations in terms of athleticism and arm strength (pushing the ball down the field isn’t something he can do well), but he plays with timing and precision (which is necessary in this offense).
QB Shedeur Sanders
It felt inevitable, but it’s time we discuss it. From what I was told by a reputable source, the reason why Sanders was the emergency QB3 was due to Sanders not having a firm grasp on the playbook. Granted, going from Colorado’s offense, which lacked an identity during his two years there, has something to do with it.
No one is denying that Sanders has talent, but it’s clear that the team didn’t believe that he was ready to back up until this week.
Sanders has an opportunity to grab the QB2 position and have a firm grasp on it. Sanders has a great work ethic, but he has to embrace the process, which I believe he can achieve. Sanders will eventually play this season, but he will only play if the coaching staff believes he is ready. If the staff were to throw him out there unprepared, that would be an indictment on the staff, and that wouldn’t be a good look on their part. Sanders has talent in his game, but he needs to work on the stuff that plagued him in college.
The Rest
As far as the rest of the room goes, it will likely be possible that Bailey Zappe will be the backup or emergency quarterback at some point this season. When it comes toWatson, since it’s been brought up numerous times, it’s clear he wants to get back out on the field. However, at the same time, is it necessary?
The Watson trade was a failure; the team took a gamble and it backfired. Watson, coming back from tearing his Achilles tendon a couple of months ago, is just impossible to consider (despite the workout videos he posts on social media). You cannot deny Watson’s work ethic; he still wants to prove himself, but he doesn’t have anything to prove in Cleveland anymore. The team still has time to determine whether to open up the 21-day window for him to return, but I wouldn’t bank on him coming back this season (I could be wrong).
