Dillon Gabriel became another addition to the infamous Cleveland Browns jersey we've seen with all now-41 quarterbacks that the franchise has started a game for the franchise since its return in 1999. The rookie, drafted in the third round out of Oregon back in April, beat out Shedeur Sanders to be the backup behind veteran Joe Flacco to start the season. But after a dismal 1-3 start for the Browns behind Flacco, head coach Kevin Stefanski made the switch for the Week 5 matchup with Minnesota Vikings in London.
After only one half, though, it felt like everyone, Browns fans and neutral observers alike, were asking the same thing watching Gabriel: What took Cleveland and Stefanski so long to hand the rookie the reins of the offense?
Make no mistake, the Browns and their offense weren't perfect in the first half against the Vikings, but they looked far more functional than they had at really any point in the season, with Gabriel playing a big part in that. Perhaps what was most telling was that Cleveland took a 10-7 lead into halftime, marking the first time in five weeks that they've led going into the locker room for halftime.
Dillon Gabriel immediately gives Browns offense the shot in the arm it needed
There was plenty of speculation coming into Gabriel's debut and this Week 5 matchup that the rookie was being thrown to the wolves as he'd be matched up with a Brian Flores defense. On the whole, though, he acquitted himself better than anyone could've quite expected.
In the first half, the rookie went 13-of-21 for 102 yards with a touchdown, while also rushing for five yards on two carries. Perhaps most importantly, though, Gabriel only had one pass where the ball was put in danger, which came on a tipped pass trying to score before halftime that ultimately flew out of bounds, and only took one sack for six yards in his first two quarters of action.
Beyond just the numbers, though, the offense simply felt more dynamic and effective, even if it still lacked explosiveness. One of the big issues with Flacco was that he was brought into the fold to assumedly raise the floor of the Browns offense. Instead, he was the worst quarterback in the NFL in terms of Expected Points Added (EPA) through the first four weeks of action. He was turning the ball over, but even when that wasn't the case, the offense was largely just stagnant.
Gabriel injected new life into the unit immediately. He was spreading the ball around and the RPO packages also helped open up a number of nice holes for fellow rookie Quinshon Judkins in the run game. It couldn't have been more night and day, and it certainly seems like the Browns should've handed the keys to the rookie signal-caller before this game.
Dillon Gabriel might not ever give Shedeur Sanders a chance in Cleveland
Those who doubted Gabriel's ability at the NFL level were quick to make the leap upon the announcement that he was the new Browns starter that his rookie quarterback peer in Cleveland, Shedeur Sanders, was now one step closer to getting his shot as well.
That made sense, to be sure. Once Stefanski and the franchise elected to move on from Flacco as the starting quarterback, everything about the offense became about identifying the best options for the future. If Gabriel had come out and struggled mightily and given an indication that he was not ready for this level of competition or plainly didn't have the necessary NFL-caliber traits, it would've been quite an obvious pivot in a few weeks to then give Sanders his shot as well.
While it was only one half, that already feels like a bit of a silly notion. Gabriel was clearly the preferred quarterback option for the Browns in the draft simply based on where he was selected in relation to Sanders, and now he has at least a flash of performance that should earn him more opportunities. The Browns would now seem foolish to pull the rug out from under him any time soon in favor of Sanders barring some type of injury for Gabriel.
But hey, maybe Sanders can give us another mime performance to let us know how he feels about the situation and his rookie teammate's early success.