The Cleveland Browns might not have the best quarterback room in the NFL, but it certainly is the most interesting, with two oft-criticized veterans and two rookies in the mix. There are four quarterbacks, not including Deshaun Watson, who is injured, that can realistically end the 2025 season with the most starts under center for Cleveland.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski has as hard a task ahead of him as anyone, ensuring that all four of these quarterbacks get chances to prove themselves in training camp, especially the rookies. Well, an injury to Kenny Pickett just made his job far easier. Now, with Pickett set to miss at least a week with a hamstring injury, the rookies - Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders - will get a golden opportunity to prove themselves.
There's a good chance that by the time Pickett is ready to go, Stefanski will know how he'd like to rank those rookies.
Kenny Pickett's injury gives Browns rookie QBs chance to shine
What makes the job of how to rank Gabriel and Sanders so complicated is that neither quarterback was taken in the first round. Gabriel was taken in the third round, and Sanders, who many thought would go late in the first round, was selected in the fifth round.
Joe Flacco, the veteran of the group, will likely earn most of the first-team reps, but Pickett's injury gives Gabriel and Sanders a chance to practice with some starters and backups, rather than fringe roster guys at best.
Gabriel, since he was selected earlier, figures to have a slight leg up, but the Browns clearly liked Sanders enough to use a draft pick on him, adding him to an already crowded QB room. Sanders outdueling Gabriel with more of an opportunity to shine could allow him to leapfrog Gabriel on the depth chart.
The winner of the rookie QB battle likely won't start when the regular season begins, assuming at least one of Pickett or Flacco is healthy, but the winner will likely be slotted higher on the depth chart. This could mean backing up one of the veterans, or simply being high enough to make the team. While the Browns could carry four quarterbacks, the odds of them doing so are probably slim. There's a non-zero chance that Gabriel and Sanders are battling for a spot on the team's active roster.
Ultimately, things can change on a dime, so no assumptions should be made. However, this injury feels like the break both Gabriel and Sanders needed to prove themselves in front of their head coach. Whoever performs better might end up benefiting in the short and long term.