Perhaps the most surprising piece of Shedeur Sanders‘ fall — a tumble that has largely overshadowed the 2025 draft — came late Friday night, when the Browns circled back to their quarterback pick. Rather than Sanders, Cleveland went with Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel.
Ranked 148th on Daniel Jeremiah’s NFL.com big board (128 spots behind Sanders), Gabriel went to the Browns at No. 94. The former Ducks standout also checks in at 5-foot-11. Transferring from Central Florida to Oklahoma to Oregon in a six-year college run, Gabriel impressed the Browns to the point he will be given a chance to start, Kevin Stefanski said (via cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot).
The Browns went through multiple meetings with Gabriel over the past month, according to The Athletic’s Zac Jackson, who does not envision the undersized prospect making a strong case for the starting role. As it stands, the Browns will send a QB room of Gabriel, Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett into their offseason program. Although Deshaun Watson is technically still on the team, it would be borderline shocking if he threw another regular-season pass for the team that burned three first-round picks on him as part of what is likely the worst trade in NFL history.
Unlike No. 40 overall Saints pick Tyler Shough, Gabriel started throughout his lengthy college career. He posted three 30-touchdown pass seasons — one at Central Florida, one at Oklahoma, one at Oregon — and the Browns certainly saw scrutinized 2023 Ducks starter Bo Nix prove many wrong via a strong rookie season. Gabriel stepped into Nix’s place in Eugene and threw 30 TD passes during a season that saw him finish as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. Gabriel finished third in the Heisman voting — behind only Travis Hunter and Ashton Jeanty — but was not labeled as a comparable prospect heading into the draft.
Sanders was — for a while. The Colorado prospect went from being tabbed a potential No. 2 overall option for the Browns to being a fairly safe bet for a top-10 selection to falling out of Round 1 altogether. A tumble out of Round 1 came up as a possibility shortly before the draft, but no one foresaw the high-profile passer falling out of Round 3. The Browns made four picks Friday night, but their Gabriel move almost definitely will send Sanders elsewhere. GM Andrew Berry referred to Sanders as an “impressive young man,” but added (via the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram’s Scott Petrak) that “sometimes fit…