The Cleveland Browns have one of the most open quarterback battles in training camp of any NFL team. That doesn’t bode well for the 2025 season, but it likely does for the team’s chances of finding a future franchise face -- and that's bad news for third-round draft pick Dillon Gabriel and fifth-round pick/Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders.
With Kenny Pickett being the popular prediction to start in Week 1 and Joe Flacco a likely emergency starter behind him, Gabriel and Sanders risk losing any momentum coming off a College Football Playoff appearance, undefeated regular season, and conference championship for the former, and breaking every relevant CU passing record for the latter, and being usurped for a first-round talent the team actually has plans for in 2026.
Ryan McCrystal of Sharp Football Analysis projected that to happen, mocking Penn State’s Drew Allar to the Browns with the No. 1 overall pick next April.
Sporting News’s Mike Moraitis believes that’s a “realistic” scenario.
“The intriguing thing is, Allar, who has good but not great athleticism to go along with his immense arm talent, didn't have a great allotment of weapons around him, yet he was still able to post those numbers and help take Penn State deep into the College Football Playoff,” Moraitis wrote.
“As a result, it's safe to say Allar hasn't hit his ceiling yet and could be even better with a superior supporting cast.
“There's still a long way to go between now and the 2026 NFL draft, but if Allar can build on what he did last season in 2025, he could be the first signal-caller selected — and the Browns are a very realistic landing spot for him if they stink it up like many expect them to.”
It’s far too early to tell one way or another if Cleveland will be as bad as advertised.
But that there’s practically no consensus on who Kevin Stefanski and Co. will run with under center doesn’t bode well for the Browns’ chances of returning to postseason form this fall.
What’s one more young QB for a coaching staff who still hasn’t found “the one” in their room?