Okay, so.
We don’t need to torture avid Cleveland Browns fans with the quarterback jokes, because they’ve all been told. We don’t need to bag on Deshaun Watson or Jimmy Haslam, as much as those two individuals have presented legit reasons for mockery and scorn. And we don’t really need to go over all the changes that happened with the coaching staff per se — everyone visiting this fine site likely already knows that Kevin Stefanski was replaced by Todd Monken as head coach and offensive shot-caller,
while Jim Schwartz was replaced by Mike Rutenberg as the man in charge of the defense.
Instead, let’s dive into reasons for optimism that have very little to do with the quarterback thing because we’ll go there in a minute. The 2026 Browns can benefit from EVP/general manager Andrew Berry’s recent personnel moves, including a 2025 draft that appears to be long-term great. The defense under Schwartz was generally anywhere from pretty good to really good, and outside of Myles Garrett, most of the key pieces are returning. It’s not as if Jared Verse, who came to Cleveland in the Garrett trade, is chopped liver, either — he’s just not a lead-pipe first-ballot Hall of Famer lock like No. 95. At least not yet.
The 2026 draft brought two estimable weapons in receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, and the offensive line underwent a neat transformation this offseason with first-round tackle Spencer Fano and free agents Zion Johnson, Elgton Jenkins, and Tytus Howard. 2025 Hidden Gem Teven Jenkins announced his presence with authority last season, so the front five should be very solid over time. Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins was an absolute boss when healthy.
Basically, the 2026 Browns appear to be one of those teams that are just a quarterback away from contention. Which is a bit like saying that you’re one Eddie Van Halen away from being Van Halen, but one does the best one can with what one has.
Wherever the Browns are headed this season, they’ll need the best possible from everyone on the roster — not just the big names. To that end, I’ve identified three Hidden Gems — one underrated veteran, one underrated free agent, and one underrated draft pick.
And I’m sure the underrated veteran won’t inspire some agita in the comments. All I ask is that you hear me out on this one.
Underrated veteran: QB Dillon Gabriel
The Browns should not expect top-tier quarterback play in the 2026 season. We’re pretty sure about that.
Once you’ve lowered the bar accordingly in that regard, what’s the next most crucial thing for the game’s most important position?
For the Browns, situational consistency could be it. And that’s why Dillon Gabriel could be the team’s best option this season.
It started in 2024, when Gabriel was Bo Nix’s replacement at Oregon. Overall in that season, Gabriel completed 326 of 451 passes for 3,854 yards, 30 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a passer rating of 114.6. Good numbers, but it’s how Gabriel got to those numbers that impressed me.
When under pressure: 56 of 104 for 892 yards, eight touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 104.3.
When blitzed: 103 of 142 for 1,286 yards, 15 touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 132.5.
On passes of 20+ air yards: 27 of 49 for 960 yards, eight touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 131.9.
Throwing from the pocket: 275 of 361 for 3,137 yards, 22 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 118.6.
Throwing outside the pocket: 51 of 86 for 720 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 102.9.
Gabriel had to wait for his shots with the Browns in 2025, but when he got them, he did deliver. Overall, he completed 110 of 185 passes for 937 yards, seven touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 80.8. Again, it was how Gabriel got to those numbers that stood out in a quarterback room that couldn’t get out of its own way most of the time.
When under pressure: 32 of 63 for 320 yards, four touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 80.1.
When blitzed: 37 of 63 for 313 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 75.7.
On passes of 20+ air yards: 2 of 8 for 44 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and a passer rating of 50.0 (okay, this needs some improvement).
Throwing from the pocket: 97 of 157 for 767 yards, six touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 84.0.
Throwing outside the pocket: 13 of 28 for 170 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and a passer rating of 63.1.
Does this bring to mind Tua Tagovailoa as a point guard-style quarterback who’s pretty good at distributing the ball all over the place, as long as you don’t ask him to scald defenses with deep balls, and rely too much on functional mobility? Before you laugh at any Tua comps, think about how much Tagovailoa at his best would have presented a marked improvement over what Shedeur Sanders or Joe Flacco did with the Browns last season, and certainly what Deshaun Watson would have forced us to watch had he been healthy.
It’s not that Dillon Gabriel is the guy to break the Browns’ ridiculous quarterback curse. For the 2026 season, that’s not the point. The point is that if you ask Gabriel to limit his deeper shots to the intermediate level (on throws of 10-19 yards last season, he completed 19 of 44 for 305 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 97.3), and let him cook under center (where he did see a relatively nice uptick in EPA/Play)… well, maybe the Browns could make enough of that to avoid stranding their defense again, and actually win some ballgames in successive order.
Underrated free agent: LB Quincy Williams
New coaches love to bring players with whom they’re familiar to their new stops, and new Browns defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg happily brought linebacker Quincy Williams to Cleveland once he had signed on as Jim Schwartz’s replacement. Williams, the brother of former New York Jets and current Dallas Cowboys interior defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, was selected in the third round of the 2019 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Murray State, and Rutenberg was the Jags’ assistant linebackers coach at the time. When Rutenberg became the Jets’ linebackers coach in 2021, he brought Williams onto the roster after Williams failed to make final cuts with Jacksonville in August of that year.
This reunion should not come as a surprise.
“That’s my dog. He’s like my brother,” Williams said of Rutenberg once Williams had signed his two-year, $13 million contract with $9.5 million guaranteed. “First thing before we talk about football, the biggest thing is Rudy cares about the heart. What I do off the field affects what I do on the field. So, he wanted to tackle both things as far as what I do on the field, so I can show up as myself — show up as this personality always smiling as me, show up every single day at work like that. So, he cares about that a lot. And then on the field, as long as we take care off the field, on the field should be easy. He taught me every single thing I know as far as the linebacker positions in the league. He was with me the two teams I’ve been on, so we have a good relationship.”
Williams has never been what you would call a star in coverage, but when it comes to facing forward, blowing up run fits, and going after the quarterback, he’s got it all on point. Last season for a Jets defense that was generally quite abysmal, Williams racked up four sacks, 12 pressures, eight tackles for loss, 61 solo tackles, and 42 stops. For a Browns defense that will be looking to place pressure players around Jared Verse as it once tried to do for Myles Garrett, Williams’ blitz efficiency from all over the front seven should be a major addition.
“[Like] a cheetah chasing a gazelle when he first wakes up,” Williams said of his playing style. “My mindset is be there before the ball gets there, or be there before the runner or receiver knows you’re there. The only way I can do that is by my preparation. That’s making sure the game plan is right, making sure I know where I need to be, making sure I know where my teammates are too. So, I know what plays I can take and what shots I can take. And so, all that put together looks like a cheetah chasing a gazelle, because I know where I’m going and I know how fast I need to be to get there before you turn around.”
Having Williams and Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger as the Browns’ primary linebackers should answer a lot of questions for a defense in transition in the post-Schwartz era.
Underrated draft pick: DB Emmanuel McNeil-Warren
Usually, I limit underrated draft picks to third-day guys. But as much tape work as I’d done on the wave of do-it-all safeties in the 2026 draft, watching Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren drop all the way to the 58th pick in the second round, when Ohio State’s Caleb Downs went 11th overall to the Dallas Cowboys, and Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman went 25th overall to the Chicago Bears, just seemed… odd.
Maybe there was a small-school bias at play, because McNeil-Warren’s tape showed him to be the most purely athletic of the three, and he’s been able to match acumen to that athleticism more often than not.
Last season for the Rockets, McNeil-Warren played 45% of his snaps as a single-high safety, 20% in the slot, 19% as a split safety, 14% in the box, and 2% on the outside. He had one sack, five pressures, 42 solo tackles, 17 stops, four tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and in coverage, he allowed six catches on 15 targets for 116 yards, 50 yards after the catch, one touchdown, two interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 50.3.
“I think what’s so special about Emmanuel is the versatility that he brings,” Assistant GM & Vice President of Football Operations Catherine Hickman said after the Browns committed that bit of larceny. ”You’re thinking of a player that can play high, can play low, a player that has excellent ball skills, size, strength, physicality. So really, a player that the way we want to play defense, just gives our defensive coaches so many options. And they’re going to be extremely pleased to work with him.”
The tape does not lie. I had an easy first-round grade on McNeil-Warren, and I thought he could be as much of an impact player as Downs, and more of an impact player than Thieneman.
Putting McNeil-Warren in the same secondary as Denzel Ward, Tyson Campbell, Grant Delpit, and Ronnie Hickman? That’s a spicy meatball, and when you marry that with the aforementioned linebacker versatility, Cleveland’s defense could bollix opposing offenses with all kinds of interesting looks.
