Browns Analyst Suggests Kevin Stefanski Will Protect Dillon Gabriel vs Eagles

Dillon Gabriel just received a huge break in the Cleveland Browns ' quarterback competition ahead of the 2025 NFL season.

He was drafted in the third round to compete against three other candidates for the team's vacated starting spot.

Deshaun Watson ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2024 and then re-ruptured it during the rehabilitation process last winter, so the Browns are looking for a new QB1 for potentially the entirety of next season.

Gabriel was the first quarterback Cleveland drafted to replace Watson, but he wasn't the last, nor was he the first gunslinger they brought in.

The Browns also signed former Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco in free agency, traded for former Pittsburgh Steelers prospect Kenny Pickett, and selected Colorado Buffaloes star Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round.

So far, Dillon Gabriel has been listed as Cleveland's QB3 on their unofficial depth chart.

He may have lost some significant ground last week when he was out with a hamstring injury and could only watch from the sidelines as Sanders got the preseason start against the Carolina Panthers, completing 14-of-23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

Now, Gabriel has the opportunity to gain some headway on Sanders and the rest of the Browns' QB1 candidates.

ESPN's Tony Rizzo thinks Kevin Stefanski will put Dillon Gabriel in favorable lighting against the Eagles Shedeur Sanders joined Kenny Pickett on the injury report this week when he sprained his oblique .

Sanders has missed the Cleveland Browns' two joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles due to his condition and will be sidelined in preseason Week 2 as well.

With Sanders and Pickett's respective injuries, Dillon Gabriel should be starting against the Eagles, so long as his own hamstring allows it.

This will give him a major chance to prove himself in the Browns' quarterback competition.

ESPN Cleveland's Tony Rizzo believes that Head Coach Kevin Stefanski will go out of his way to ensure that Gabriel puts up encouraging numbers in Philadelphia.

He had this to say following the former Oregon quarterback's poor showing in the Browns' first joint practice with the Eagles: "6-of-19? He missed 13 passes on less than 20? I know it wasn't a good day for the whole offense, but he's gonna have to play better than that.

I'm confident, though, that Stefanski will put him in position to look good Saturday.

I don't think they'll go down the field a whole lot.

I think they'll run some screens." Rizzo is essentially implying that Stefanski will protect Gabriel's image by drawing up designed plays to get his quarterback easy completions and yards.

That sentiment aligns with the head coach's hesitance to anoint Shedeur Sanders following his debut against the Carolina Panthers.

Dillon Gabriel has a unique opportunity to prove himself against the Philadelphia Eagles, and if Rizzo is correct, he'll be put in advantageous scenarios to look even better..

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