Dillon Gabriel catches brutal jab from Browns reporter at minicamp

The Cleveland Browns certainly executed the most eventful NFL Draft strategy of any team this year. It started with trading away consensus No. 1 prospect Travis Hunter for extra bullets, then selecting his Colorado co-star, Shedeur Sanders, 142 picks later in the fifth round — after taking another quarterback, Oregon's Dillon Gabriel, in the third round.

It's not hard to wrap one's head around the Browns' strategy, even if very few folks seem to agree with it. Cleveland needs depth, thus trading the No. 2 pick for several high-value picks. Cleveland also needs a future QB, so why not take two bites at the apple?

Gabriel took the first snaps at rookie minicamp, as one would expect of the more highly drafted prospect. While Sanders was ranked higher on almost every public-facing draft board, NFL teams clearly felt different. That won't stop the media from being skeptical of his future. Case and point:

Browns reporter behind Dillon Gabriel: 'I'm taller than him'

This is... unfortunate for all parties involved. This Browns reporter, surely unaware that he was on camera and being broadcast to thousands of fans worldwide, took a step behind the podium after Gabriel's presser. He mouths the same phrase to a couple different folks: "I'm taller than him."

Now, maybe this reporter is just, like, really tall.

Okay, no, he's not. It doesn't seem that way at least. The biggest knock on Gabriel coming out of Eugene was his lack of size or standout athleticism. He's listed at 5-foot-11 and 204 pounds, which falls well short of the positional average. We know there's a steeper learning curve for smaller quarterbacks in the NFL. Just ask Bryce Young.

It's harder to find clear sight lines at 5-foot-11 than it is at 6-foot-3. Gabriel was an extremely smart and accurate passer for the Ducks, but will he be able to make the same sharp reads against towering NFL linemen? It remains to be seen.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course, which Cleveland will hope Gabriel proves to be. Kyler Murray. Russell Wilson. Hell, even Bryce Young is starting to come around. Being shorter than six feet is not a death sentence by any means. It's just another layer of challenge for Gabriel.

When he lacks in size, Gabriel ideally makes up for with quick processing and nifty mobility. It's clear the media apparatus at large will favor Shedeur Sanders, but if we try to understand Cleveland's thought process, Gabriel rendered much quicker decisions at Oregon and extended plays with his legs on a regular basis — something Sanders has never done very well. Sanders is only 6-foot-1 and is not a standout athlete either. Sanders can probably get more arc and touch under his throws, but he took a lot of sacks at Colorado and struggles to evade pressure.

Gabriel is in a tough spot. Nobody really thought of him as a third-round pick, and now he's sharing the QB room with the most hyped and publicized fifth-round pick of all time. By default, Gabriel sits ahead of Sanders on the depth chart, but every question Kevin Stefanski will field for the next few months will probably be a variation of "why isn't Sanders QB1?"

The Browns believe in Gabriel, clearly. Does anyone else?